The Other Side of Pain
by xboxbabe
Summary: When one of Stephanie's skip vows revenge, Joe demands changes Stephanie isn't willing to make. With Ranger's support and help, she continues her dangerous lifestyle and realizes more about her wants and desires for life than she'd been willing to admit.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

There are some things in life I know are true. The sun still shines on rainy days, even if it is hidden behind the clouds, the wind exists even though you can't see it, and trees make noise when they fall, even when no one is around to hear them. However, there are even more things in life I don't know. I don't know where I'll be in ten years, I don't know if I'll ever have kids and settle down like a good Burg wife, and I don't know if I'm going to live past this moment.

My name is Stephanie Plum and I'm a Bond Enforcement Agent for my cousin, Vincent Plum. I've been working this job for a few years now and I've learned some tricks to help me have more success, but the truth is, I'm just lucky. If it weren't for luck, I'd probably be the world's worst BEA. Well, truth be told, I am the world's worst BEA, but my luck usually outweighs my lack of skill.

I used to do this job solo, but now I have a partner named Lula. Lula is a former 'ho, two inches shorter than my five foot seven inch frame, and about ninety pounds heavier. She frequently dyes her hair various neon colors, wears tight spandex clothing, and has skin the color of a Hershey bar. I have shoulder length brown curly hair, blue eyes, and most of the time I can button up my jeans without any fat rolls hanging over the top. Luckily for me, my jeans were actually on the loose side this morning.

Lula and I like to think of ourselves like Starsky and Hutch when we're working, but the reality is that we're more like Lucy and Ethel. Yesterday we'd taken in a skip who'd been arrested on domestic violence charges. I got a phone call from Connie at the Bonds office this morning that the offender, Bernie Belfiore, was rebonded. Unfortunately, his first order of business was to get revenge on me. This is the sort of thing that stresses me out about my job, and when I get stressed out, I eat. My favorite food is birthday cake and I eat a lot of it when I'm worried, when I'm happy, or whenever I'm awake. Needless to say, I regularly eat a _lot_ of birthday cake.

I was standing in the kitchen of my small, one bedroom, no flairs apartment and ripping into a Tastykakes package when my apartment door opened and a tall, muscular Cuban American man entered. He was chiseled perfection of mocha skin tone, dark chocolate eyes, and black hair pulled back into a pony tail. He wore black cargo pants tucked into Bates boots and a black T-Shirt which clung to him like a second skin. He stared at me for a beat and the corners of his mouth tilted upward a fraction.

This would be Ranger. Tall, dark, and mysterious Ranger. He was my mentor, friend, personal body guard, at times, and one time lover. Ranger had once told me he loved me, which was great; but then he'd added that it was in his own way. It was fine, since I loved him in my own way, too. It just so happened that my love bordered on obsession for the man. We had one exquisite night together and discovered the strength of the chemistry we had to be explosive. Since then, I've been terrified of what he could do to me if I let him. To prove my point, he'd gotten up and walked out the morning after and had never been in my bed since; well, at least for sex, anyway.

"Babe," he said while his feet moved soundlessly across my foyer to the kitchen. He slid his arms around my waist and hugged me to him in a warm embrace. This was the other problem. Whenever he touched me, I felt my body go all squishy in all the right, or maybe wrong, places. His eyes took in the processed, sugary treat in my hands. "Stressed?"

"Oh no. Not me. I have no reason to stress, other than Mr. Maniac Belfiore is out to get me." I looked down to open my Tastycake and found it to be missing, but there were crumbs were on my shirt. "Shit. Did I just eat that cake or did you take it away?"

My question got me a small smile. Geez! I got weak in the knees when he flashed his grin at me. He shook his head ever so slightly. "You're a train wreck with the sweets, Babe." He pressed a kiss to my temple and said, "Just checking in, heard about Belfiore."

I nodded. "Not much new around here, just another stalker."

"You could always come stay with me." His small smile turned lecherous and I felt a zippity all the way to my doo-dah.

I shook my head and he released me after a small peck to my cheek. "You want me to take care of him for you?"

I could never quite figure out if Ranger was serious when he asked me those types of questions. I was also never quite sure if I wanted to know whether or not he was serious.

"I appreciate the offer, but I think this will just blow over. He's angry now, but as soon as his wife lets him back in he'll forget about me and go back to doing what he does best, unfortunately." I grabbed a beer from my fridge and took a swig to wet my throat. I always seemed to be parched when Ranger was around.

Ranger walked back to my front door and then turned to give me a stoic look. "I hope she doesn't let him back in for her sake. The man needs to be taught a good lesson about how to respect others, especially women." He opened my apartment door. "Come see me at Rangeman later. I have a project and need your help." And he was gone.

I walked over to my door and opened it to see if there was smoke in the hallway where he'd vanished and almost ran into Joe Morelli. As if I wasn't already on sensory overload from Ranger's visit, here stands Morelli, the other sexy man in my life. Morelli is just over six feet of lean Italian muscle. He is movie star handsome, with a great body, almost black curly hair and chocolate brown eyes.

Morelli had been in and out of my life periodically since I was six years old. As a teen, he was a wild and uncontrolled troublemaker who had talked me out of my virginity when I was sixteen one day behind the counter at Tasty Pastry, where I worked after school. As adults, we have a relationship normally described by the phrase "on again, off again" and, currently, we were off again. Morelli hated my involvement with Ranger and his company, Rangeman. He didn't trust Ranger and I wasn't ready to kick him out of my life, so Morelli and I had come to an impasse. This time, I wasn't sure we would be able to get past it, especially since it involved me making all of the sacrifices.

"Oh!" I yelled out. Mr. Wolesky across the hall from me opened his door and looked out. When he saw Morelli, he shut his door again. "I almost didn't see you." I glanced out into the hallway. No smoke, no Ranger.

"Looking for someone?" He asked, his eyes hard and mouth set in a thin line, face devoid of emotion. His cop face. This wasn't good. My heart ached at the thought of losing him from my life, but I didn't see how it was fair for me to give up my friends and a job I liked to do just because he didn't like them. Well, I don't always like my job and I know I'm not great at it, but it's what I have available and I have this obsession with being in the center of the action.

My eyes searched his face for a moment, maybe memorizing it for when the inevitable happened.

"Just doing a security check." I had no idea if he and Ranger had run into each other. I wasn't sure I even wanted to know. "What's up?"

"Tina Belfiore showed up in the Delaware this morning, face down." His voice was grave.

I gasped. "Bernie?"

"We don't know for sure, but it looks like his work." A muscle worked in his jaw.

I felt strong remorse for Tina. I'd gone to school with her, but back then she had been Tina Petrucelli. I hadn't known her very well. I was a baton twirler in the marching band, she was a science geek. Her death hit close to home since she was my age and the death was most likely tragic and gruesome. Maybe also a teeny bit because her husband was the likely suspect and he'd already claimed my death was eminent.

"There's something you're not saying." I knew Morelli and I knew when he wasn't talking. He was staring at me with that damn muscle twitch in his jaw.

He stepped into the apartment and closed the door. "We're not broadcasting this, but she was brutalized sexually with a sharp object and her breasts were removed."

I saw black spots creep into my vision and the room started to spin. "R-removed?"

"Geez." Morelli pulled me to the couch and sat me down with my face between my knees. He waited until I was sitting up and breathing normally before asking, "Do you want to know the rest?"

"Yes." _No._

"They were removed with broken glass. Best guess right now is a broken bottle." He was silent for a few moments while his hand rubbed over the back of my neck and down my back.

I took a few deep breaths and sat up to look at him when I was sure the taste of bile was gone from my mouth. "That's terrible," I whispered.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Maybe you should take a break for a while." He felt my back stiffen. "I'm not saying quit right now, just take a break until this one is cleared up." He leaned in to nuzzle my neck. "I like your body parts where they are."

Guilt washed over me. He was stressed by this case, my job gave him ulcers. "I wish I could. Vinnie's going nuts right now. We have more skips than we can handle and he needs everyone on deck."

Morelli sighed. "See, this is why we can't be together. The guy who probably did this is loose and has plans to hand the same fate over to you and you're still going to go out and chase your skips."

"It's my job," I said softly, my heart heavy.

"Get a different job." He rose and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets.

"Why should I have to get a different job? Why do I have to give up everything to make you happy before you'll be with me?" I stood up, anger running through my veins. "Did it ever occur to you that you're asking me to give up everything I am just to be with you? What would you give up?"

Joe stared at me for a moment, the muscles in his jaw working furiously. He was dead calm. "Tina was also missing her hands and feet. You'd better be careful when you go out. Belfiore is pissed and wants revenge."

My ears started to ring and my lungs hurt with the effort to keep breathing evenly. "Thanks, I'll keep it under advisement."

He shook his head and walked to the door. With a last look at me, he slipped out quietly, the second man to pull that trick today.

I sat down when he left, angry and worried. It seemed Joe and I were off, and probably for good. Maybe this was inevitable since Joe required me to change and he, as yet, didn't seem to be important enough to me to do it. The truth was, I didn't want to change. I liked my independence, my apartment, and the excitement of my job.

Okay, so it wasn't great sometimes, like now, but I got to choose my own hours and do other jobs on the side, such as working with Ranger. _Oh boy, working with Ranger._ Yep, there were definite benefits there.

When I arrived at the bonds office, Lula was busy on the couch filing her nails. Vinnie had hired Lula to file the paperwork in his office, but lately it seemed her nails were the only items being filed. Pair that together with her accompaniment when I chased down skips, and it lead to massive stacks of papers waiting for their proper file folder.

"Hey girlfriend," Lula said, standing. "We going to get someone today?"

I nodded. "I have to try to pick up Mike Luger today. He's my last outstanding skip." I pulled the file out of my bag and opened it. "Got caught stealing dogs, no one knows why."

"Girl, I don't even want to think about what he wants with no dogs," Lula said with a shudder. "You can count on me to help bring him in."

I mentally rolled my eyes. I could count on Lula to run away from the dogs. "Great. He should be getting home soon. He works the night shift at 7-Eleven." Wonderful. I'd have him in lock up in an hour and then I could head over to Rangeman.

We walked out the door and piled into my dark green Toyota Camry. It had two huge rust spots on the hood, no muffler, and a crack in the windshield from top to bottom, but it was also in my price range.

"I don't know how you think we're gonna sneak up on criminals in this noisy thing," Lula said, pulling a donut wrapped in a napkin out of her purse. "Being in your car makes me hungry."

"Every time we take your Firebird, you won't let me put my skips into it! We're taking my car so I can be sure I'll have a way to get them to the PD." I started the car and the noise started a buzz in my ears.

"Only if you actually catch him today," Lula said with a snort. "And I don't let you put them in my car 'cause they're always covered in some nasty shit. You got a way with criminals, and it's messy."

"Hey, I catch them well enough. I'm at 100% capture rate for two months now." I frowned at her. "And it's not my fault these crazy things happen. The skips usually run and trip me, or throw me into something to stop me from following them. I can't help it if I land in whatever happens to be around!"

"Girl, you're only at 100% because you're damn lucky and you get help from Ranger." Lula fanned herself with her hand. "I'd like to get him alone for an hour and give his hot body a couple of rounds." This was the way every woman felt about Ranger when they saw him. He looked like dessert on overkill and his smell was more intoxicating than 180 proof.

We pulled up to Luger's house just before ten, close up close behind a garbage truck idling on the street. The garbage men were walking the length of the block and to collect bags. "Unh. Do we have to park here?" Lula asked with her fingers clamped down on her nose. "This is one stinky ass garbage truck."

"I don't want Luger to see me when he pulls into his driveway. He should be here any minute." I watched the street and saw a silver Honda Civic pull into Luger's driveway five minutes later. "That's him. Let's go."

Lula followed me out of the car and we met him at his porch steps. He was sorting through the keys on his key ring for his front door key. "Mike Luger?" I asked.

"Yeah?" He looked up, glancing from me to Lula.

"Hi. My name is Stephanie Plum. I represent your bondsman, Vincent Plum. You missed your court date and I'd like to take you to the courthouse to reschedule." My standard line with FTAs.

"No way. I was saving those dogs. I'm not going to jail for being a decent person." He pushed past me and started up the steps.

"You won't go to jail, you'll probably just get community service," I said, following him. He reached the front door and shoved the key into the lock. "If you don't go, you'll make it worse and you will end up doing time." He cocked his head back toward me then. "If I don't take you in, someone else will." It was a line Ranger had said to me once and I'd learned it was true.

He paused and looked at me. "And I'll be able to come back home today?"

"Yes. I can call the office and have someone meet us there so you can get rebonded right away," I said and pulled out my cell phone to show him. Just then, the garbage truck started beeping repeatedly. We covered our ears and I looked back just in time to see the garbage truck backing into my car.

"Hey!" I yelled. Lula and I ran over to the truck and I banged on the driver's door with my fist. "Can't you look where you're going? You just smashed up the front of my car!"

The driver, a man in his mid-forties, looked confused and looked out the window behind the truck. "Geez! I didn't see your car there. You parked too close to the truck, lady."

I watched in horror as some orange innocuous goop fell from the truck onto the hood. _Yeesh!_ I sighed and looked back at Luger. He shrugged and walked into his house. Looked like I was going to have to come get him another day. The garbage truck pulled forward and I groaned at the stinky, nasty substance dripping down my hood and splatting on the ground. The front of my car was completely crunched and liquid streamed out through the grill, leaking all over the ground.

"I don't know how this always happens to you!" Lula said with a shake of her head and a laugh. She slapped her thigh with her hand. "I've never seen anyone lose so many cars in my life!"

I put my head into my hand and considered using my gun on her ... or myself. This was my third car this month. My phone rang out the Batman Theme and I answered it. "Yes?"

"Babe," Ranger began, "your car blipped off my screen, you okay?"

"You didn't happen to have the GPS unit somewhere in the front of my car, did you?" I asked.

"Need to know info," Ranger said, but I could hear his smile. "Something happen?"

"A garbage truck backed into my car and smashed the front all to hell. He said I was too close to him." I was annoyed and hated having to admit another car failure to Ranger.

Ranger laughed softly. "I'll send Tank over with a car."

"No, I don't–" It was too late, he'd hung up. Ranger phone manners at their best.

Lula and I waited on Luger's porch steps for the police and Tank. When the blue and white showed up, Carl Costanza got out and grinned at me as he approached. "I don't know how you do it."

"I hate my life sometimes," I moaned. He laughed and wrote out the accident report.

Tank arrived about ten minutes later in Ranger's black Porsche Cayenne, followed by the black Rangeman SUV. All of Ranger's vehicles are black. I knocked on Luger's door. He answered and looked out at me. "You ready to go?"

His eyes settled on the Cayenne. "We going in that?"

"Yep."

"Okay, we can go, but I have to be home by four," he said while he stepped outside and turned to lock his front door.

"You should be back in about an hour," I said, leading him to the Cayenne.

Tank stepped out and handed me the keys and said, "Ranger says to try not to blow this one up." He walked to the SUV and climbed into the driver's seat.

We all climbed into the Cayenne and Morelli pulled up alongside the car, his mouth in a grim line. "Nice car."

"Thanks. Gotta go, have a skip to deliver." I shut my door and reversed past him, swung around, and took off. I wasn't in the mood for his mood. I looked in the rearview window and saw him sauntering toward Carl, hands on his hips as he stared after me.

"He didn't look happy," Lula said, staring at him in the side view mirror. "But he is still so damn fine."

"I thought you wanted Ranger," I stated, getting grumpier by the minute.

"Yeah, well, both of them, either of them. Long as I got my hands on at least one of them," Lula said.

"Make up your mind," I said as I depressed the brake to stop at a red light. I was angry with her, but couldn't identify exactly why.

"I think you should take your own advice, girlfriend." Damn it, she had a point


	2. Chapter 2

_Note: The characters and descriptions recognizable as Janet Evanovich's do not belong to me. I am using them for my own entertainment purposes._

* * *

I waited at the Police Department with Luger for a little over an hour. Lula went for coffee in Ranger's Cayenne and I prayed she returned. I didn't want to have to tell Batman that I let someone else borrow his car and she took off with hit. Connie met us the courthouse to post the bond for Luger and, by the time we were done, Lula had returned with Ranger's car. We dropped Luger off at his on the way to the bonds office. We walked in and found Vinnie at Connie's desk. "Good. You're done with the files Connie gave you last week. Now, clear these up, as well." He handed me a stack of files and I began to leaf through them.

Connie walked in while I was going through the stack and Vinnie stood to let her sit at her desk. Most of the files were not too bad, but one of the files stopped me in my tracks. "Belfiore?" I asked, slapping the file back onto the desk. "No way, Vinnie. He's already threatening to kill me. I want to stay away from him as much as possible."

Connie turned to look at Vinnie. "God, Vinnie! You trying to get her killed?" Connie was a couple of inches shorter than me, a few inches bustier than me, had black curly hair, Italian jeans and five o'clock shadow on her upper lip. She wore bright red lipstick and thick clumps of mascara hung on lashes which fringed her dark eyes. Connie was related to a lot of people with connections to the mob. She didn't take any shit from anyone, including Vinnie, which was why she'd worked for him so long.

"Geez! I'm not trying to get her killed." He flung his hand around the office. "Getting these guys off the streets is the only thing standing between us all being out of a job!"

"What about Ranger?" Connie asked.

"Ranger said he can't do skips right now and, unfortunately, Miss Accident here is the only hunter I've got who actually apprehends our FTAs. Though, I have no idea how she manages to do it." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Vinnie," I grumbled.

The door to the bonds office opened and Lula and Connie froze. I felt the air change and knew that Ranger had stepped inside. He walked up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder at the base of my neck. "I thought you were coming to see me." Lula and Connie practically swooned at his question. I knew without looking that they were both fanning themselves.

"I am. I just had to drop Lula off and get some more files." He reached around me and grabbed the file off Connie's desk. "You're not taking this one."

Even though I just told Vinnie I didn't want it, his statement raised my cackles and I went a little crazy. I snatched the file from him and shoved it into my bag with the rest of the files. "Yes, I am."

Ranger stared at me, unblinking. Unlike Morelli, who got angry and yelled with his hands waving around, Ranger did not yell or even look angry on the surface. I knew he was angry by the set of his eyes and the explosive quiet surrounding him. "No, you're not."

I sighed. I didn't really want Belfiore, but I also didn't want the men in my life to think they could tell me what to do. "Vinnie gave it to me."

Ranger turned his head to Vinnie, piercing him with a stare. "Is that true?"

Vinnie started to open his mouth, but I cut him off, not wanting him to give away the fact that I had turned it down. "Yes!" I stomped to the door and out onto the sidewalk.

I saw Ranger say something to Vinnie and turn around to come out to me. "If you take this one, I'm helping you."

It was decided then. Belfiore was my skip and Ranger was going to help me capture him. Personally, I was grateful. Belfiore was a high bond FTA and I could really use the money. "But," he said, pinning me against the Cayenne with his body, "if I catch you looking for him alone, I'm taking you off the case."

I opened my mouth to argue, but he closed in. "I mean it," he said just before his lips captured mine in a soft kiss. He touched his tongue to mine and I sighed involuntarily and snuggled in closer. He held me like that for a few more seconds and then released me and stepped back. "You ready to come over for your Rangeman assignment?"

I felt as if my legs wouldn't support me. I hated when he sapped all my strength with a kiss and then left me to fend for myself.

"Yeah, I'll follow you there." He left and I walked around to the driver's side door and spotted Morelli a little ways down the sidewalk from Vinnie's office. _Yikes!_His hands were on his hips and his eyes were hard. I gulped and slid into the seat and shut the door. A little panic set in. If there was one thing I never wanted Morelli to see, it was Ranger kissing me.

Suddenly, Morelli was at my door. I rolled down the window and smiled up at him. "Can I help you?"

"How often does he do that?" His voice was deathly quiet.

"Oh, not that often," I said. It was a lie. "He just has this brotherly sense of protecting me."

"Brotherly," he said, leaning forward. "You didn't act like it was brotherly."

I didn't have a response to his comment so I shrugged and started the car.

"So, he gets to protect you and I don't?" He looked hurt behind the tough cop facade and my heart fell. I didn't want to hurt Morelli. He loved me, but more and more I was feeling as if he wasn't right for me.

"You try to _stop_ me from doing what I need to do. Ranger _helps_ me do what I need to do," I explained.

"What else does he help you do?" he asked with a dark scowl.

My jaw dropped. Of course, I had slept with Ranger once, but it was just the one time and after that we were both cautious to keep our barriers in place. Well, except for the kissing and sleeping together in the same bed and the times we'd nearly had sex. _Oh God, I'm a tramp._ Still, Morelli and I hadn't been together at that time, so technically I hadn't cheated on him.

Before I could come back with an adequate response, Morelli walked off.

My phone rang. "What?" I asked, impatiently.

"You okay?" Ranger was still sitting behind me in his Porsche 911 Turbo.

"I'm not sure," I said numbly. Things were not going well for me today. "I'll talk to you at the office," I said and disconnected.

***

I pulled into the parking garage beneath the Rangeman building and waved to the security cameras as I rode the elevator up to Ranger's private apartment on the seventh floor. Ranger had beaten me here and the smell of spicy food hit my nostrils when I arrived. His apartment was like him: masculine, dark, expensively furnished, sleek, and sexy as hell. My mother would kill for his kitchen. I would kill for his television.

My stomach growled in response to the smells and I set my bag down and tossed the keys into the tray by the door. Upon entering the dining room, I found Ranger setting a Corona on the table for me. "Lunchtime?"

He nodded. "I figured you'd be hungry since you only had that Tastycake this morning and you've had a stressful day."

I decided that it wasn't worth asking how he knew and responded with, "You don't know the half of it." I sat down in my seat and eyed the dishes on the table.

He cocked an eyebrow at me and sat in his seat, lifting the lid off each of the dishes. It looked like we were having taco salad with fresh Romaine, black bean and corn salsa, grilled chicken, tomatoes, onions, guacamole and a likely non-fat dressing that appeared to have some spicy peppers in it.

Ranger began dishing out the salad into our large salad bowls as I talked.

"I destroyed another car, lately I am continually being bombarded with skips, Morelli and I are probably over for good, and you keep kissing me and walking away." That was actually easier than I thought. I'd summarized my day, and practically my entire current life, in one sentence.

He served the ingredients from each dish over the lettuce, watching me in silence. I sighed and spooned some dressing over my salad and started eating. This wasn't cutting it. I needed a donut or something with sugar.

"Why are you and Morelli "probably" over?" he finally asked after we'd eaten in silence for a few minutes.

"You mean besides the fact that he saw us kissing?" I asked. Ranger quirked his eyebrow at me. I thought while I chewed on a piece of chicken, then sighed. "We're 'probably' over because he wants a Burg wife, no, he wants _me_ to be a Burg wife, and that's not going to happen. I don't even know if I want kids, but if I did, I still don't see me doing the 'Susie Homemaker' thing." I stabbed a piece of lettuce and ate it.

"Being a bounty hunter isn't a great career for a mom, Babe." He took a swig from his water bottle.

"I don't want to be a bounty hunter forever, but I do want to be me forever." I looked into his eyes. "I get the feeling that I'm not really what Morelli wants. I mean, he loves me, but he wants to love me as this wife and mother who resembles what his mom represents." I finished off my salad and started on my beer.

"Maybe he just wants you to be safe," Ranger said.

"He gave me an ultimatum. Quit him or quit my job." I stood up and walked over to the window and stared off into space contemplating life without Morelli. Then I stared at Ranger for a beat. "Why are you trying to defend him? Do you think that I should give in and do what he's asking me to do?" I stood up, pacing. "Would you ask me to be a stay at home mom in the kitchen?"

The question was out before I had a chance to think better of it.

"First of all, I'm not the kind of guy to ask anything." He walked up behind me. "But no, if I got married, I'd want my wife to be herself."

My breath caught in my throat when I felt his lips on the back of my neck. He kissed up my neck, behind my ear, and back down again. His finger hooked into the neck of my T-shirt and slid it aside so he could continue his kisses out to my shoulder.

"Are you poaching?" I asked, trying to ignore the hum that had started in my veins. I'd basically let go of Morelli, but I wanted to know his response.

"Is it poaching if you and Morelli are over?" he asked, his tongue joining the assault on my senses.

"I, uh, no…" I couldn't think. What were we talking about?

"_Are_ you and Morelli over?" he asked.

My breath hitched again and I tried to control it before I spoke, "On my part, yes. Ending it with him for good, not so simple. It's going to be ugly."

His hands circled my waist briefly before tugging my T-shirt out of my jeans. He slid his fingertips up my stomach, over my ribs, to rest at the base of my breasts. He pulled me against his chest and nibbled my ear. I gasped when he slid his hand to my back and unhooked my bra.

"You really want to end it with him?" His fingers trailed lightly over my breasts, sweeping over my nipples and sending shock waves to my lower regions. I inhaled sharply and lost the ability to focus.

Okay, so we were heading down a slippery slope right now and I wasn't ready for it, Morelli or not. I had too many questions about this man to get too involved. The problem was, I was already in over my head, but why add to the confusion?

He sensed my resistance and slid away from me to grab his water bottle from the table and take a swig. "Seems to me you have some decisions to make, Babe."

I rehooked my bra and willed my hands and body to stop shaking. "I know. I think many of them are made already." I sighed, sat down, and looked at him. "There are just a few outstanding questions I need to have answered."

He locked eyes with me, not giving anything away. _Great_, I thought. _No help there._

"You had a job for me?" I asked.

He nodded, keeping his eyes on mine.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just reading your mind, Babe."

I needed to remember to start wearing shades around him. "What's the job?"

He walked over to the counter and grabbed a folder and handed it to me. "I need a personal assistant."

I cut my eyes to him and opened the folder, scanning the contents. "A land tycoon?"

He nodded. "We've got a client who sells real estate, but every person who's shown up to purchase this particular property in the past three weeks has either turned up missing or dead."

I looked at the photos. Three men have gone missing in the past two months. "This is weird."

He nodded. "I'm going in under cover to purchase this property. I'll have my guys paroling the perimeter, watching all the roads and any people who come into the building. I need you to distract the salesman. We think it may have something to do with him, but we can't be sure."

He inclined his head toward his bedroom. "Your clothes are in there."

I gulped and stared at the room and he shook his head. "We have to be there in an hour and I'm not going to jeopardize this mission. You're safe from me, for now."

I nodded and followed him to the bedroom. There was a business suit, if you could call it that, hanging in his closet for me. I looked at Ranger. "Are you serious?"

"We need a good distraction, Babe." He grinned.

If he'd been closer to me I would have given him a shot in the shoulder. As it was, he'd started stripping and I was working to control the drool that was pooling under my tongue.

He looked back at me. "If you don't start getting dressed right now, I'll prove to you how easy it would be to give us both a thrill and still make this meeting on time."

His words sparked me into action. I stripped and put on the minuscule underwear Ella had laid out. It couldn't even be called a thong, it was more like a scrap of ribbon. There was no bra, just a couple of sticky pads to attach to my breasts to give them some lift and deepen my cleavage. I caught Ranger watching me as I attached the pads and felt like I was going to pass out from the wave of desire that coursed through me. He crossed the room, his crisp white shirt still unbuttoned and untucked, with danger in his eyes.

He caught my wrist in one hand and pulled me against him with his other hand, and then stroked his fingertips stroking down over my cheek. "I could change the meeting to another day." His eyes were so dark I felt I would get lost in them. He was hard against me and, at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to have him take me.

The sound of his doorbell doused us like a bucket of ice water. I jumped away from him and turned to start putting on the suit. Ranger took a moment to school himself before striding out to open the door. "What do you want?" I heard him bark.

"You asked me to meet you up here at 12:30." It was Tank.

"That's right, man. Sorry."

I was almost dressed when Ranger came back, but I'm not sure the addition of clothing helped. He stopped when he saw me. "That," he indicated my outfit, "is going to be a problem."

"What?" I asked, slipping my feet into black patent leather shoes with five inch platform FMPs.

"You." He sat on the edge of the bed. I turned to look at him. "What do you do to me, Babe?"

I looked in the mirror to take in my appearance. The skirt was so short that Ranger, sitting on the bed, probably had a good view of how nonexistent my thong was. The blouse clung to my nipples which were permanently hard whenever he was near, not to mention that it was just short enough to give fleeting glimpses of my navel when I moved.

I gaped. "What the hell?"

He nodded. "I was just thinking the same thing. This sales guy is going to lose his ability to conduct business upon first glance."

_Hmm_. "Okay. Let me fix my hair." I went into the bathroom to pull my hair up into a chignon so I would look a little more businesslike. I used a heavy hand with my makeup and put on some base and translucent powder to give myself a flawless complexion, swept on an extra coat of mascara, lined my eyes with a deep coal liner, smudged it for the smoky eyes look, and added some blush to define my cheekbones. The finishing touch was to line my lips in a nude liner and add some shimmery lip gloss for natural lips with some flair.

I returned to the room to find Ranger standing at the jewelry chest holding a diamond choker. Tank was standing beside him and sucked in a breath when he saw me. I thought I heard him whisper something like, "Oh my God." Ranger cut his eyes to Tank with an unspoken "get the hell out of here" look.

I sashayed over to Ranger and turned around, giving him a nice view of my nearly exposed ass. "Want to help me put that on?"

His fingers lingered on my skin after he'd clipped on the choker. I definitely looked like a slut for hire. I looked at the jewelry chest and selected diamond hoops and a bracelet to match the choker. I was really glad that my manicure was miraculously still intact.

I turned around and looked at him. "I feel like I'm just missing my switch and I'd look like a naughty school teacher."

Ranger didn't move. His eyes darkened, his breathing was slow and I knew that he was using his signature calming technique to stop himself from acting on his urges. Something to remember for the future_._

I walked out into the living room to a chorus of gasps from Hal, Ram and Tank. In the brighter light, my creamy skin gleamed beneath the thin silk of the blouse. The darker skin of my nipples was visible and my breasts were free to move around pretty much as they pleased.

"Stephanie," Ranger said. I turned around and looked at him and heard the men suck in their breath. "Shit," he said.

He looked over at Ram. "This isn't going to work, is it?"

Ram cleared his throat. "Actually, I was thinking it might work too well."

"You want to explain yourself?" Rangers eyes had gone hard.

Ram started to sweat. "I mean, this guy is going to forget himself. He's not going to care what day it is or what business is taking place."

After a few beats, Ranger ordered them to get into their SUV and wait for us.

"You forgot your jacket, Babe." Ranger held it for me as I slipped my arms in. It was the same length as the blouse, so didn't provide much more coverage. It was also a cutaway fit, so it did nothing to cover my cleavage or even my nipples that well. I did a slow twirl for him, knowing that I was bringing calling the Ranger beast onto myself later.

He gripped my waist and brought his lips down onto mine with a slight growl. "You're asking for it, Babe. Just be warned."


	3. Chapter 3

_Note: The characters and descriptions recognizable as Janet Evanovich's do not belong to me. I am using them for my own entertainment purposes._

* * *

The ride down the elevator was tense. Ranger scrambled the cameras so the guys on monitor duty couldn't gape at me. He was pure stoicism to the untrained eye, but I could tell he was all heat just beneath the surface. I was practically on the verge of asking him to postpone the meeting today.

We made it to the Porsche in one piece, and then he started it and tore out of the parking garage in record time. "Two things," he said as we headed toward the highway. "You aren't going back to Rangeman, or anywhere else, in that outfit after this and I'm going to have a talk with Ella about some ground rules for distraction outfits."

He drove a bit too fast, not in his zone, when we saw a red Kojak flasher behind us. Ranger swore and pulled over. I only knew one cop who would pull Ranger over when he was only doing five or so over the limit.

Morelli climbed out of his Crown Vic and sauntered toward us. "This is going to be bad, Babe. He doesn't look happy."

He looked down at my legs and rolled his eyes. "Shit. You're on full display, put something over your legs."

I looked around but there was nothing. I didn't have time to take off my jacket and suddenly Morelli was at the window, tapping on it with his knuckles. I crossed my legs and prayed it would be enough to hide my lack of decent clothing.

"Omigod," I said just before Ranger rolled down the window.

Morelli took in the scene, his eyes straying to my nearly exposed crotch, and his mouth tightened. "License and registration, please."

"Sure," Ranger said. I suddenly panicked. All those times Morelli yelled at me about Ranger's cars being of questionable origin ran through my mind. He was going to arrest him if this car wasn't legitimate. I had a strong suspicion he'd been trolling around the neighborhood waiting for an opportunity to bust Ranger.

Ranger leaned across me to the glove compartment and dropped a hand to my inner thigh. The action wasn't lost on Morelli and it felt like Ranger was staking a claim. I didn't know which of my emotions was worse, the anger or the panic. They were both warring for my attention, but the only one really winning was a hysterical urge to hyperventilate.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing. I ignored the tension from the two men to my left and just focused on my need for air. _In through the nose, out through the mouth_, I thought.

Morelli had taken Ranger's paperwork and was at his car calling in the information. "Babe," Ranger said to me and took my hand. I couldn't speak. I didn't know what I would say.

Morelli returned and handed back Ranger's information. "Everything checks out fine," he said and his eyes locked with mine. I slowly released the breath I'd been holding. I saw a mixture of pain, anger, and confusion in their depths. "Drive safely." He turned and walked back to his car. Ranger pulled back onto the road with the guys following in the SUV. Neither of us spoke as we made our way across town. Both vehicles arrived at the garage and parked. Ranger had arranged for us to meet up with a friend of his to take a limo in which all of us would ride together. Tank was dressed as a chauffeur with a hat, overcoat, and the whole shebang.

The limo was waiting for us, already running. It was a black Rolls Royce stretch limo. Ranger looked at me and winked. _Shit!_ Even his wink sent my blood boiling.

The guys loaded into the limo with Tank at the wheel. Then Ranger opened the door for me. I brushed past him and entered through the doorway with him following closely behind. He sat beside me and pulled me into the crook of his arm, then looked at the blushing faces of Ram and Hal. "Both of you, eyes out the window. If I so much as see a glance in our direction, you'll be off work for a week without pay."

They both stiffened and turned their heads to look out their respective windows. I leaned up to Ranger so only his ears could hear my words. "That was a bit harsh."

"Not if you could see what I saw, Babe," he murmured into my ear.

I crossed my legs and hoped the action provided some coverage. I wasn't as concerned about a cheek hanging out, but I had to admit I was actually starting to enjoy the reaction this outfit drew from Ranger. I was going to have to try it out on him sometime. _Whoa, Stephanie. What's gotten into you?_

We arrived at the real estate building downtown with minutes to spare. Ranger grabbed my hand and power walked to the elevator. He hated being late. I was running in my heels to keep up with him. Tank, Hal and Ram walked behind us, keeping their distance, but on the lookout for trouble.

We nearly ran into an older gentleman when we entered the building and I thought the shock of seeing me would send him to the grave faster than Ranger's solid body almost mowing him over. His jaw dropped and his teeth slipped out clopping to the floor.

Horrified, I bent down to scoop them up, but Ranger kept going, dragging me behind him. I skidded into the man and his face planted right into the center of my cleavage. This wouldn't have been so bad, but his wife was behind him and she began beating him with her purse yelling out all kinds of names at him.

Ranger stopped, extricated the man from my chest, grabbed the teeth, and calmly handed them to his wife. He then resumed his grip on my wrist and pulled me to the elevator. The guys were waiting for us and I could see the barely contained mirth on their faces. "Shut up," I said to everyone.

The elevator doors closed and I heard snickers. Ranger was staring at the control panel shaking his head slightly. "Only you, Babe." Snickering resumed and the elevator stopped. "This is our floor."

The snickering stopped immediately. There was a time for fun, but not on a mission where one, or all, of us could get hurt. Ranger tucked my hand into the crook of his arm as the doors opened. Tank and Ram preceded us into the hallway and Hal followed behind. We were all silent. I was playing the part of the naughty seductress, swinging my hips with each step.

Ranger took a glance back at Hal. "You okay, man?"

There was sweat on Hal's brow, but he nodded. Ranger cut his eyes to me. "I knew I should have had you change." He stopped and turned back to Hal. "Okay, no rules. You don't have to worry about me or your job. You do what you have to do to keep her safe, understand?" Hal nodded and relaxed. Apparently it was easier to keep an eye on me if he could keep his eyes on me.

We continued down to the office and Tank and Ram opened the doors for us. The receptionist was a petite little blonde with very large, overdone breasts and big blue eyes. Her pouty mouth was painted in bright red and her top was a size too small. When her eyes landed on Ranger, she pushed her ample bosom up even further to show off a huge amount of cleavage. Her eyes widened when she saw the size of our group. "May I help you?" Great, she even had a little Betty Boop voice to go with the boobs.

"Yes, I am here to meet with Mr. Saunders," Ranger said with a very thick, nondescript Latino accent.

"Mr. Chavez?" she asked, her eyes trailing over his chest.

Ranger nodded with a dumb smile. "Yes, I am Mr. Chavez."

She nodded and made a phone call. "Please follow me. Mr. Saunders is waiting for you."

We arrived at the conference room and were met by Mr. Saunders and two of his employees, Mr. Sole and Mr. Tierney. Mr. Saunders was a tall man, about six foot six inches, with sandy brown hair and distinguishing good looks. I placed him in his mid-fifties. He had pale green eyes and firm, thin lips. Mr. Sole looked like a fish, with big squishy lips, black bushy hair, and a rounded belly. I thought his name was appropriate. Mr. Tierney was a thin man with thick, black framed glasses and mousy brown hair. I could barely see his eyes through the thick lenses, let alone tell what color they were. Immediately, Mr. Saunders walked over with precision to shake Ranger's hand, "Mr. Chavez, so good to meet you." He then turned to me and took my hand. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ms.-"

"Clark," I said in a breathy voice. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Saunders." He bent to kiss my knuckles and his eyes lingered on my chest. I gave myself three guesses as to who had hired Minnie out front. "Come, I insist you join us at the table." The room was uncharacteristically hot. I could see the beads of sweat on the guys' foreheads. Ranger looked cool as a cucumber, then again, Ranger always looked cool as a cucumber. I was glad that my suit was so skimpy because I was starting to get warm.

"I apologize. We're having trouble with our air conditioning. If you don't mind, I'd like to go over the preliminary details here and then we can go to the property to finalize the rest." Mr. Saunders smiled and gave me a wink. "It will be much more pleasant over there."

_Ugh_. I smiled sweetly at him, making sure to show him a flash of my crotch as I sat in the chair Ranger had pulled out for me. I was rewarded by Saunders fumbling his pen and dropping it onto the floor. When he came up to his seat again, he was better composed, but I noticed him casting glances at my crotch through the glass table. _Pervert_, I thought.

"Could I offer anyone a glass of water?" Mr. Saunders stood and walked over to a sideboard with ice and a pitcher of water. "Or something else? Champagne, perhaps?" he asked me.

I had a strange feeling about accepting any beverages. The room was too warm and it seemed a little too sneaky for me. My suspicious nature made me wary. "No, thank you. I prefer things hot," I said, crossing my legs and giving him a shot of my ass as I did so.

He dropped the glass he was holding and it crashed to the floor. "Oh!" he said, reaching over to a phone. "I'm sorry about that. I'll get Sheila to come in and clean this up."

The men were on alert after the phone call was made. No one she was the true recipient of the call, but a few moments later, Sheila, aka Betty Boop, came in with a broom and dustpan.

After she left, Mr. Saunders inquired if anyone else would like a drink to which the men all declined. "Okay, let's go over the paperwork, shall we?"

It took fifteen minutes to go over the contracts and we were a little overheated by the time he and Ranger were done. Even Ranger had a bead of sweat on his forehead. I felt suddenly dizzy and a little loopy, like when I had take Demerol for my gunshot wound. I looked around the room, but my vision was blurry and I was unable to focus. It seemed that the guys had the same trouble, as well.

I looked at Ranger and he was still as a statue, watching Saunders. Suddenly, he stood and pulled his gun and the guys followed suit. "Turn off the gas, Saunders."

Saunders gave an innocent look around and put his hands up. "What are you talking about?"

"The gas. Turn it off." Saunders looked angry for a moment and the two men with him moved to stand.

"If you stand, you're dead," Ram said from behind us. "Hands up."

All three men raised their hands and Ranger pulled out his phone. "Get all the men up here, we need backup."

I had no idea that anyone else was working this mission with us, but it made sense to me. We all sat there, the four men on my side of the table with guns drawn on the three men opposite us, not moving. I was trying to keep my eyes focused, but it was getting harder. I felt giddy and strange.

There were little dots of color floating around the room and they appeared to be growing larger and larger. "Look at the dots!" I shouted and started laughing. "They're pixies!"

Ranger looked at me, "Babe?"

"You know, pixies. Little fairies?" I stood up to grab one. "Like from Peter Pan?"

Tank began to laugh. "I see pixies, too." He giggled like a boy.

Soon, Ram followed and Mr. Sole and Mr. Tierney weren't far behind. We were laughing so hard, we were doubled over. I fell to the floor in a fit of laughter and held my stomach, my outfit forgotten, the mission forgotten. "Pixies!" I screamed on a laugh.

Soon, the doors opened and three men I didn't recognize came in, guns drawn. "Oh, look. They came for the pixies!" Tank helped me up and I collapsed against him in a fit of giggles, tears streaming down my face.

"Boss?" One of the unknown men said, looking at Ranger.

"Get us out of here. Someone cover her up," Ranger said as he started to lose his composure. "We've been _gassed_." On the last word, he exploded in a fit of laughter. "Grab Saunders. He's coming with us!" He held his belly and doubled over in laughter.

I barely noticed. I was laughing and crying, leaning on Tank. Three more guys from Rangeman joined the room and we were all ushered out, Saunders in cuffs, the rest of us supported by a Rangeman employee so we could make it out of the building without collapsing.

***

I didn't remember the ride home or how I got into my bed, but I was there. I still had my suit on and I had a horrible headache. It was light out and I looked at the clock, 7:30, ugh. I closed my eyes and rubbed them with my fingertips. I hadn't heard the door open or close, but I knew I wasn't alone. I opened an eye and looked around and found Morelli, leaning against my bedroom door, his arms crossed, his expression dark.

"You're finally waking up," he said. "Late night?"

I groaned. "I need water."

He left the room and returned moments later with a glass of water. I just about had my hands on it when he tipped it over onto my chest. "What the fuck!" I yelled and jumped out of my bed. I stood in front of him, wringing out my shirt and glaring.

He glared back and his eyes travelled downward. I looked down. My breasts were now clearly visible through the thin wet silk fabric and my nipples were up and looking around, as well, thanks to the cold water. My skirt had ridden up around my waist and the minuscule scrap of ribbon was all that covered me, and it didn't cover a thing.

"I'm trying to understand what's going on here," Morelli said finally.

I sighed. "It was nothing. I had a distraction mission."

"Distraction mission?"

"Ranger had a client who had some crazy stuff happening to his clients and asked him to investigate. I went dressed as his slutty arm candy to distract the guy into making a mistake." I fixed my skirt as I spoke and tried to smooth out the wrinkles.

"He asked you to go somewhere dressed like that?" He walked over to me and stared into my eyes. "Christ! Were you on drugs, too?"

"What? Why?" I asked reaching up to feel my cheeks.

"Your eyes are bloodshot and glossy." He set me away from him. "What are you getting into with him?" he yelled.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. "Joe. I was not on drugs. The guy gassed the room so he could take us hostage. Ranger's team came in and got us out."

A muscle worked furiously in his jaw. "He puts you into danger deliberately. What I don't get is why you willingly go!"

"He puts himself into danger for me all the time. I know he would never let anything happen to me. I trust him!" I shouted back.

Joe just stared at me for a few minutes. "I've been telling myself that it's just been my imagination for months. That he isn't a problem. I've been trying to be patient." He ran a hand through his hair. "But he _is_ a problem, Stephanie. So you have to choose. You cut off all contact with him or we're through. I can't do this anymore."

I stood staring at him, my breath coming in ragged spurts. I was so angry I could barely see straight. "What if I told you that you had to cut people out of your life in order to be with me? Would you do it?" His eyes narrowed. "Would you?" I asked again.

He looked away and I had my answer. He didn't love me enough to do it for me and I knew I didn't love him enough to do it for him.

"Then you have your answer," I said. "Get out." I hoped he left before the tears came flooding out because I was on the verge and fast losing my control.

"Cupcake..." he started.

"No, Joe. We have to face it. We're not important enough to each other to give up anything, at least the important things, to make the other happy." I felt tears stream out of my eyes. "You have to move on and I have to move on. No more threats, no more ultimatums."

He rubbed his chest and my heart nearly broke. "I want to be able to be friends with you, Joe. We make great friends and I don't want that to end." He shook his head turned to leave.

"Maybe someday, Cupcake," he said quietly and left my room. I heard my front door close a few seconds later. I felt myself dissolve into a heap of tears on the floor. I have no idea how long I was there or what time it was. The morning turned to afternoon, the afternoon to evening. My phone rang, my answering machine picked up, and I cried. I wasn't hungry, I didn't want company, and I didn't want to leave my room.


	4. Chapter 4

_Note: The characters and descriptions recognizable as Janet Evanovich's do not belong to me. I am using them for my own entertainment purposes._

* * *

Strong hands lifted me off my floor, pulling me out of sleep. I was weak and tired. I probably should have eaten, but I just didn't have the energy to think about it. I snuggled against the chest and fell back to sleep so I didn't have to think or remember.

I woke up a while later in a car. We were cruising down a highway, I could tell by the speed and the fact that we weren't stopping. I opened my eyes and looked around and nearly swallowed my tongue in shock. Bernie Belfiore sat next to me in the driver's seat. It was night. I glanced the dash clock. 10:43. My hands and ankles were tied, my jacket was gone, and his hand was on my thigh precariously close to the thong.

"What the hell!" I yelled. I must have given him a shock because he jerked and swerved on the road.

"Jesus, bitch!" He righted the car and gave me a backhanded slap across the cheek. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

My cheek stung, but it was nothing compare to the fury building inside. I swung my bound fists at him and started beating him. He yelled and swerved all over the road. Looking back, I saw a car do a U-turn and blue and red flashers come on.

"Damn you!" he yelled and gave me a shove that caused my head to crack against the window. I felt myself go a little loopy and tried to gather my thoughts. Wanting the cops to catch us, I raised up my legs to kick Belfiore and he worked at driving faster while fighting off my attacks.

I kicked him square in the jaw and he landed a punch to my stomach that knocked the wind out of me and made me throw up all over myself, the seat, and the floor. He ripped my skirt off while attempting to turn me so my feet weren't such a danger to him. "Cut it out, you're going to kill us!" He was holding my legs by the bindings around my ankle and holding them as far away from him as possible so I couldn't kick him again.

There were two cop cars chasing us, now. I realized this could only end badly, so I decided to call a truce. "Okay! I'll quit, let me put my legs down."

He turned his head to leer at my practically naked ass. "I don't know, I could get used to this."

"Come on! You can't drive like this. Let me go!" He did then, so I sat up and reached up with my bound hands and pulled my seatbelt down. It took me a minute, but I clipped it and sat holding the door handle to keep from sliding all over the seat.

My head was spinning and I was nauseous from the blow to my stomach. Three cop cars appeared in front of us with their lights on and Belfiore gave a roar before sideswiping one. Bernie's car fishtailed all over the road before coming to rest at the edge of a deep ditch. I blew out the breath I'd been holding, thankful that we hadn't tumbled over.

"Bitch!" he yelled and punched me in the jaw before taking off. Stars swam around in my vision and I shook my head to clear them. I was filled with rage and fear, terrified about what might have happened and angry with myself that I hadn't taken precautions to protect myself. I'd let myself get so upset over losing Morelli's friendship that I'd forgotten to look out for my safety.

An officer reached the car, gun drawn. He took one look at me and put his gun away before speaking into the radio on his shoulder. The passenger side door opened and Carl Costanza stood there with a blanket. He covered me, cut my bindings, and helped me unbuckle my seatbelt. An EMT came over with a stretcher. Carl lifted me into his arms and I clung to him for dear life, then he set me gently onto the stretcher and the ambulance rushed me off to a hospital. What a great way to end my day.

I had no idea where I was and asked if I could be taken to St. Francis. The EMT nodded. "That's where we're headed."

Carl was in the ambulance with me, holding my hand. He was silent and I could tell he was angry. I could understand his anger. We'd known each other since we were kids, we'd taken our First Communion together, and he was like a brother. If my sister were in an ambulance in this condition, I'd be angry, too. Of course, there was also the fact that maybe his interest was slightly stronger than brotherly care for me, but he had never said so, and I pretended it didn't exist. Carl was a nice guy, but not my type.

We arrived at the hospital several minutes later and I was taken to an ER examination curtain. A female doctor checked my wounds, checked me for damage from the crash, and then asked me if I she needed to perform a rape kit on me.

"I don't think so. He ripped my skirt off when he was trying to get me to stop kicking him," I said. "As far as I can tell, there was nothing else that happened down there."

The doctor nodded and pulled back the curtain. "You can come in now."

I looked up and saw Morelli coming around the curtain, followed by Ranger. Their expressions were unreadable. My heart hurt to see Morelli. Our conversation was too recent and the hurt too deep. Ranger's expression was unreadable except for the barely contained rage under the surface, which was obvious in his eyes.

"Babe," he said, nodding to me, but keeping his distance. His glance flicked to Morelli and I understood that he didn't know what happened between us.

Morelli stood looking at me, hands in his jeans pockets. "God, I'm so sorry," he said. He walked over to me and kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry, cupcake." It felt like a goodbye.

"Not your fault," I said, looking into his eyes and then turning my gaze to Ranger.

Joe stood and looked between Ranger and I. "Take care of her," he said. He squeezed my hand and left.

Ranger turned to me. "What was that about?"

I shook my head, my grief washing over me in waves. All I could do was sob. There were no words to fix the mess I'd made of my life. Ranger gathered me to him, stroking my hair. "You know I hate when you cry," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

I could only cry harder and he tightened his grip on me. "It's okay, Babe. You do what you've gotta do."

I had no idea how long we stayed like that. He held me and I cried myself hoarse. I cried until I was too dehydrated to produce tears and then I sat up sniffling and rubbing my eyes with a tissue. I blew my nose and Ranger took in my appearance. "You were still wearing the outfit." He nodded his head to the stained and crumpled blouse on the seat.

I nodded and sighed. "I don't have the energy right now. Can I go over this with you later?" My voice was cracked and weak.

He nodded. "Whenever you're ready." I thanked him.

The doctor appeared from behind the curtain again. "Well, you can go home whenever you're ready. All the tests checked out. Other than some bruises and a slight concussion, there's no damage. I think that you're very lucky given the speed of the cars when they hit."

I nodded. "I'll take her home," Ranger said. The doctor handed him an instruction sheet for my care and said, "I'll just need a signature on some forms and she can get dressed and leave."

"I'll sign them. I'm her employer." The doctor nodded and passed a look between the two of us. Given my underwear and the blouse I was wearing, I was sure she wondered just what type of employee I was. _Unh_. Mental head slap. _Must change out of slutty outfits in the future._

***

"Are you hungry?" Ranger asked when we got to his apartment. He'd carried me up and still had me in his arms. I was wearing a pair of sweats and a T-shirt that he'd brought with him, but I didn't have any shoes.

"No. I just want to sleep," I said. He nodded and carried me to his room. "Wait. I want a shower first, please." I just remembered that I'd spent a whole day wallowing around on the floor crying my eyes out and I probably still had makeup all over my face.

"Sure you can manage?" he asked, setting me down on the bathroom floor.

I licked my lips and nodded. My mouth was so dry. "I'll get you some water," he said and left.

I got undressed and stepped into the shower. Between the gas from the day before, the blows to my head and gut, and now the scent of Ranger all around me, I was in over my head. The room started to spin and I crumpled to the floor willing myself not to get sick.

After a few moments, Ranger returned. "Babe?" He saw me on the floor of the shower and came inside to help me. The water poured over us, me naked, him fully clothed in his standard black garb, boots and all. "Sorry," I mumbled. "I guess that I was dizzier than I thought."

"It's okay, Babe. Let's get you cleaned up and in bed." He grabbed some of the shampoo he kept on hand for me and began to wash my hair. His fingers massaged my scalp, avoiding the spot where I'd hit my head. He carefully rinsed away the soap, making sure not to get any in my eyes. He took a clean cloth from the rack that was stocked in his shower and put a little of my facial cleanser on it and tenderly wiped my skin clean. His hands were gentle and fluid when he washed my body with my lavender scented body wash.

I didn't know if I was ready for hot sex or sleep by the time he was done. My senses were on overload and my skin was tingling. He turned off the shower and wrapped me in a white terrycloth toweling robe, pulling up the hood to soak up the water from my hair.

He walked me over to the toilet and sat me on the seat as he took off his wet things. I nearly passed out at the sight of him naked in front of me. I couldn't remove my eyes from him.

"Babe." He walked over to help me stand. "Don't look at me like that. I'm in no state to walk away and you should rest."

"I don't want you to walk away," I said and I meant it.

"You've had a lot happen," he said, bringing me to the bed. "I'm not going to take you like this," he said, covering me with his smooth, crisp sheets.

"You're not taking, I'm taking. I'm asking you to give," I said, staring into his eyes.

His eyes darkened. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I've been thinking about doing this for a few days and I need you." He didn't wait a second longer. He slipped into the bed next to me and pulled me to him. He held my face in his hands, his fingers stroked my cheeks, and he tipped my face up to give me soft, tantalizing kisses. He deepened the kisses, using his tongue to taste and torment me.

Soon he was kissing down my neck, tasting my skin with his tongue and rubbing his lips over my skin slowly, deliberately. His kisses moved lower, his hands stroked and soothed my heated flesh, bringing me to the boiling point. When I finally called out to him in frustration, he was over me, inside me, claiming me.

I wrapped my arms around him and held on for dear life as stars exploded in my head. This was the magic of being with the Wizard. Total surrender, complete pleasure.

I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep almost immediately after. In the safety of Ranger's arms, I could sleep through World War III and not wake.

Several hours later, I woke up with pain in my stomach. I stirred and Ranger's arms tightened around me. I tried to focus on what the pain was and realization hit me when I felt it again. I was starving. I managed to break free from his arms and slipped out of bed and into the robe at the foot of the bed he'd laid out for me.

I padded out to the kitchen and looked in the fridge: yogurt, boiled eggs, a few things in containers here or there, nothing filling. I sighed and opened the cupboards: granola, some healthy cereal, nothing there either. I was debating getting dressed and heading out to get something when Ranger spoke from behind me. "Hungry?"

I jumped, turned around, and saw him smiling at me. The force of a full Ranger smile was enough to knock any woman off her feet. It was downright deadly to a woman who'd just recently succumbed to his magic. "Yeah," I said, breathless, eyes scanning down his naked body.

He grew a little more serious, his fingertips softly caressed my face. "Babe, I suspect you came out here for food, but I have something else I can give you if you want."

Both appealed to me, but my stomach growled then and I felt a wave of nausea. "Um, it'd better be food this time. I'm starving. I didn't eat anything yesterday."

He sobered at that statement and walked over to the phone. "Yes, please bring up the tray of food." He went to the bedroom and came back a few seconds later wearing a pair of pajama pants. "Ella isn't used to seeing me naked."

I smiled at him and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "Come sit down, Babe," he said to me, pointing to the table. I walked over and he helped me into my chair before settling down next to me. The door opened and Ella walked in with a covered tray and two beers. I thanked her and she smiled and left. She'd been wearing a fuzzy purple robe and her hair was in curlers.

"Does she often get up in the middle of the night and bring you food?" I asked, eyeing the tray.

He lifted off the lid and went to grab a plate for me. "No. I asked her to be ready. I knew that you would get hungry after you got some rest." I looked at the clock. It was just after three in the morning.

I groaned. "I hate early mornings."

He smiled and made a sandwich for me from the cold cuts and cheese on the tray. "Lettuce?"

I nodded and grabbed a couple slices of tomato. He handed me the sandwich and I added the tomato slices and took a big bite. After I swallowed, I moaned. "Omigod. This is almost better than sex."

Ranger raised an eyebrow and I smiled. "I said almost."

He smiled at me, gently. "Talk to me, Babe. What happened yesterday?"

My food caught in my throat a second and I gulped to swallow it. "Too soon?" he asked.

I thought about it and shook my head. "No. It's fine." I took another bite and thought about how to begin. I started out telling him about how I woke up the next morning after the real estate mission to find Morelli waiting for me in my room.

"By the way, what happened to Saunders?" I asked.

"I took him to my client to deal with him. None of my business what happens after that," he said on a shrug. "The police are handling the rest."

I nodded and then explained about the argument with Morelli and how we'd both realized what we weren't willing to do to be together. I told how Morelli left saying we couldn't have a friendship right now and how I'd spent the day wallowing in self-pity on my bedroom floor.

Tears sprang to my eyes at this point. Ranger pulled me onto his lap and stroked my har. "It's okay," I said, looking at him. "I just realized that I wasn't mourning the loss of our romantic relationship, but just our friendship. I always wanted to keep Morelli in my life as a friend." I looked into Ranger's eyes. "We made great friends, we just couldn't make it work as lovers."

He nodded. "You could have called me if you needed anything."

"I know, but I Just wanted to be alone." I sighed and put my head onto his shoulder. "I didn't want to think or cook or eat or clean ... or shower or feel like I had to get beautiful for anyone." I placed a kiss at the base of his neck. "I just wanted to be me in my misery."

"You don't have to _get_ beautiful for me, Babe. I always think you're beautiful," he said and I knew he meant it.

I ignored his comment and continued. "Anyway, I fell asleep and woke up a while later to these arms picking me up. I was really out of it. For some reason I let myself think that it was you. I think I was wishing it was you." His arms squeezed tightly around me. "In hindsight, I knew it wasn't, but I just didn't have the energy to fight with anyone."

"When I finally woke up, I was bound and sitting in the car with Belfiore. He was driving like a madman. I knew I had to get out of there so I started beating him with my fists and my feet." I sipped my water.

I felt Ranger smile at that. "That's my girl."

"Then he started driving faster and I didn't want to die in a crash, so I told him I'd leave him alone and managed to pull the seatbelt down and secure it just before he whipped over the line and sideswiped a police car." I told him the rest of the story and kissed his neck again.

He pondered everything for a few moments and then tilted my head up for a kiss and asked me, "So, you gave up a relationship with Morelli to be friends with me?"

I hadn't expected the question to hurt the way it did. He had continually told me he didn't want a relationship, but maybe deep down somewhere I had really hoped he would change his mind.

"Yeah. It sounds that way," I said. He kissed me again, but inside, I was numb. I just wanted to process everything. I had to think about it this way: If I had known this would be Ranger's response, would I have given up my relationship with Morelli? _Yes._

Okay, so at least I knew I didn't break it off with Morelli just because of Ranger. There were many other factors and I would be okay with what happened now that I knew Ranger wasn't the only reason. _But he was a big part of it. _I yawned.

"You need more sleep."

I nodded and he carried me off to the bed, tucking me in. "I'll be back after I clear off the table," he said.


	5. Chapter 5

_Note: The characters and descriptions recognizable as Janet Evanovich's do not belong to me. I am using them for my own entertainment purposes._

* * *

I woke to an empty bed and the smell of heaven. Curiosity being one of my biggest weaknesses, I went to the closet and fished out some clean underwear, black jeans and a Rangeman shirt. I walked out to the kitchen barefoot and found Ranger cooking omelets on his stove. I froze and watched him. The muscles in his back worked as he added ingredients and flipped the concoction over with a spatula.

He turned his head to give me a smile and went back to work. There was toast, coffee, juice and, just as I reached the kitchen island, he scooped a perfect omelet onto a plate and handed it to me.

"Help yourself, Babe," he said.

"No bacon?" I asked. He shook his head at me and scooped a second omelet onto his own plate. I grabbed some toast, a cup of coffee, and a small glass of juice and headed over to the table.

We ate in silence. The food was good and I ate every morsel off my plate. "Wow, that was amazing." I smiled at him. "I didn't know you could cook."

He shrugged. "I had to learn to cook if I wanted to eat when I lived on base. Either that or I had to eat what was available in the mess hall and, well, I figured I had better luck learning to cook on my own."

"Bad food?"

"Sometimes it was okay, it just depended on the dish." He topped off my coffee cup and sat down beside me. "This is my best dish."

I sipped my coffee, a bit unnerved that he was sitting there just staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

He pressed his hands to the table and stood, sighing. "I have another mission. I need a woman and I really don't want to ask you."

I stood up and looked at him. "Why not?"

"It's dangerous. Really dangerous," he said gazing into my eyes.

"Is this a joke?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Okay, sorry." I stood up and hugged him. "What is it?"

"An undercover mission. It would be a few days, you'd be out of contact with all your friends and family, and you can't tell anyone about it," he said.

"Wow, it _is_ a big deal." He nodded. "I think it would be okay. I'm doing fine."

"We'll brief you downstairs. We have a meeting in forty five minutes." He kissed my forehead. "You sure you're interested after what happened last night?" He stroked his knuckles down my cheek.

"Does this have anything to do with Belfiore?"

He nodded. "Then yes, I'm interested."

He pulled me to him and kissed me, his hands pressing me tightly against him. I opened my mouth and gave myself up to his exploration. I was a trembling mess, clinging to him for balance. He had the ability to knock me off my feet with a touch, his kisses were lethal.

He pulled my T-shirt off me and unclasped the front clasp of my bra, baring my breasts for him. Suddenly, his hands were stroking them and tweaking my nipples. His mouth moved lower to caress my neck in soft kisses, then he moved his mouth lower to take over for his hands and I inhaled sharply when his tongue circled my nipple and his lips closed around it. When he trailed kisses across from one breast to the other, my knees gave out and it was a good thing he was holding me, otherwise I would have collapsed in a heap on the floor.

He lifted his head back up and gave me a slow, tantalizing kiss and then pressed his forehead to mine. "I wish we could do this right now." He crushed me against him and pressed a kiss to my nose.

"We can," I whispered. I couldn't believe it! He was going to walk away from me right now?

"Babe." He sighed and took my mouth in another deep kiss. I held onto his neck and raised my legs up to circle his waist. He pulled back and looked me in the eye, his darkening to the color of coal. "You play dirty."

I shocked myself by saying, "I don't want you to walk away from me right now." I'd never been demanding of him, at least not like this. I was usually the one pushing him away.

He stared at me. "I don't want to, but I have to prepare for this meeting."

I nodded. "You don't have any time to spare?"

"No more Morelli guilt left?" He let go of my legs and I felt my feet hit the floor. I was losing him.

"I meant it, we're history." And I did mean it, I knew what I wanted, knew who I wanted and I wasn't turning back. The answer had been so obvious all along. Ranger allowed me to be myself, he never asked me to change for him. I couldn't commit to Morelli because he didn't hold my heart.

The shock of my realization hit me and I gasped.

"That's all the more reason for us to stop." He set me back from him and calmed himself a moment. "I think that you should just take some time to think about it. Last night was good, no, it was excellent. But you need time." He walked over to the elevator and punched the call button. "I'll see you in my office in five."

And he was gone. He'd walked away. These past months he had been trying to seduce me into his bed and I resisted and he kept persisting. All that time Morelli had been in the picture. Now, when I'm doing the asking and there's no Morelli, he walks away. Ranger scared the shit out of me. The amount of passion between the two of us scared the shit out of me, but this was what I wanted. A spark of anger got me moving, doing something I never thought I would do.

I rehooked the clasp on my bra and took the elevator down to the fifth floor, not even bothering to put on my shirt. This time, I wasn't taking no for an answer.

I walked from the elevator and down the hall, aware that every one of his men was gaping after me as I walked past. My lips were flushed, my eyes were angry, and my skin was red from Ranger's kisses.

He looked up from his desk when I walked in and his eyes darkened when he saw me. "You forgot your shirt."

I closed his office door. "No I didn't."

"Open the door," he said, standing.

"No," I said, walking to him. "I'm a little miffed that you are always deciding the rules in this game between us." I wiggled my finger back and forth between the two of us. For months you have been poaching on Morelli's territory. I finally realize that there's no future for Morelli and now we can do this guilt-free, and you walk away. You asked if Morelli was history and I said yes." I kissed his chin softly. "And I meant it."

"Babe..." he warned, his fists at his sides. He was still as a statue.

"No, Ranger. For once, I want this to be because we both wanted it and not for any other reason." I walked up to him and pressed a kiss to his left pec through his shirt. I saw him clench his fists with the effort to keep his hands at his sides. "Not because you felt I was too vulnerable to refuse. Not because of a debt, but because we want it. I want to see what it would be like this way."

"Stephanie." He was breathing evenly telling me that he was, again, using his well-practiced calming techniques to resist me. "This isn't the time," he looked around the room, "or the place."

I looked into his eyes for a moment, and then, with a trembling hand, I reached up and unclasped my bra and let it drop to the floor. In an instant, he was at his desk pulling a remote out of the drawer and pointing it at the camera in his office. "Shit, Stephanie!"

I laughed, a little out of fear, a little out of nervousness, and a lot out of pure excitement. I'd never been this reckless before, but here I stood as proof positive that love can drive a person crazy. I'd finally reached that point.

He stood and came over to grasp my upper arms. "What are you trying to do?" He shook me a little on the last syllable.

"Are you angry?" I asked. For the first time, I felt my courage falter. Everything was riding on his answer.

He stared at me for a moment and then his eyes softened into pure passion. He crushed his mouth to mine. "No, but I'm not stopping this time, either," he said between kisses.

I gasped as he roughly pulled my clothes off me. His hands were all over me in a fluid motion, floating across my shoulders, arms, stomach, legs, and lower. I was trembling and a small moan escaped my throat.

Seemingly in a flash, his clothes were gone and he was inside me. I was perched on the edge of his desk with my legs around his waist. He had one arm around my waist and one hand gripped firmly in my hair. I felt myself disappearing inside his passion and bit his shoulder to keep from crying out.

When we were done, he stood over me, staring into my eyes and caressing my cheek. "I'm never going to live this down with the guys," he said, leaning forward to kiss my temple.

I was a little stung that his only comment to me after what we'd just shared was about what the guys would think. He must have registered my hurt because he tilted my chin up for a tender kiss. "People around here used to be afraid of me. No one would have thought of barging into my office and placing their demands on me." He kissed me again. "No one but you." I could understand how he felt a little when he put it that way.

He dressed quickly and helped me into my clothing. "Stay here," he said and disappeared out of his office, shutting the door behind him. A few moments later he returned with my T-shirt in his hand.

He tossed it to me and I pulled it over my head, shoving my arms into the sleeves. After a long, quiet look, he walked over to me and pulled me into his arms for a hard kiss. "If you ever do that again..."

I smiled. "Yes?"

"I'll make sure you scream loud enough so that _no one_ questions what's happening," he said with an evil grin.

I didn't put it past him so I nodded. "I won't seduce you in your office again."

"At least not during office hours, I don't mind the seducing me here part, though," he said and kissed the top of my head. Then he walked over and opened his office door. "Tank," he called out.

A few seconds later, Tank appeared with a faint red glow to his cheeks. He could barely look me in the eye.

"We're ready for the meeting. Get Ram." Tank nodded and walked out of the room. Ranger turned to me and gave a barely perceptible shake of his head. "They're going to be useless around you today."

***

Tank, Ram, Ranger and I all sat around the conference table in Ranger's boardroom. They filled me in on a stream of murders that had begun taking place on Stark street. Hookers were being murdered on a daily basis and Rangeman had agreed to assist with the underground investigation using Ranger's street contacts.

When they explained my part in the mission, my jaw dropped and the men were all looking at me expectantly, if not in the eye. "You want me to do what?!?" I asked at Ranger's suggestion. "What makes you think I could pull it off?"

"Because you're smart and you're a woman. It'd be hard for me to do it." I stared at him, unable to believe he was asking me to pose as a prostitute in a whorehouse!

I gaped at everyone, incredulous for a minute. "What if I said no?"

Ranger stared back for a few beats. "You know I wouldn't make you do it. In fact, I don't even know if I'm comfortable with you doing it."

And there it was. It was true. He wouldn't make me and I knew he wasn't sure he wanted to even ask, but Ranger was always bailing me out jams, helping me with transportation, paying the Merry Men to babysit me when my life was in danger ... the list continued. "Will it be safe?"

"As safe as I can make it. We'll be monitoring you at all times. We have a guy on the inside who will keep an eye on you and you won't have to serve any real customers." He sat back and looked at me. "We'll arrange for customers to visit you on a regular basis so you can keep Martin off your back. Sort of grandfather your regulars into his business."

"Who is Martin?"

"He would be your pimp, the guy who runs the place."

I shook my head in disbelief. "I can't believe I'm going through with this."

"We know that Belfiore is tied into all of this somehow," Ram explained. "Tina Belfiore surfaced wearing jewelry from two of the dead prostitutes. That's too much of a coincidence."

"The key is tying it all in so we can end it once and for all. Draw him out and bring him in," Ranger said. "Keep you safe from him for good."

"But we can't do that unless we have someone on the inside. These girls know something and they won't talk to cops," Tank provided.

I drummed my fingers on the tabletop and bit my lip.

Ranger shocked me by leaning forward and stroking my jaw with his fingertips right in front of Tank and Ram. Of course, considering what I'd done, this was certainly on the mild side. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to do it." Heat flooded through me from my head to my toes at his touch and I remembered what had transpired between us just thirty minutes ago in his office. My throat went dry.

I had visions of Ranger running to my rescue time and again. I remembered how he never questioned when I needed help, but he was always there with whatever I needed. How could I not help him when he asked so little in return? "No, it's fine. I'll do it."

He nodded, his face showing no emotion. Typical Ranger, except for the eyes. He almost looked troubled. "Are you okay?" I asked.

He sighed and ran his hands over his eyes. "I don't like to ask you to do this, Babe. It's never my intention to put you in real danger, but I don't trust anyone else to help me. This is important. Plus, he's your skip. The only reason I even feel it can work is because I know you have good instincts and I know we'll be close so we can keep you safe if things go south."

"I thought that pimps always insisted on breaking in new girls themselves," I said when the thought struck me.

Ranger shook his head. "Normally Martin would, but he's too busy with his other shady activities and usually too strung out on drugs to get it up. Plus, he's lost a lot of girls. Normally pimps want fresh meat, but he'll take anything he can get to keep his business up. This is hitting his pocketbook hard." He paused for a moment. "You may have to kiss him and act like you like him, though. Could you do that?"

I gave an involuntary shudder. "For you, anything."

Ranger didn't smile. I knew he didn't like this and, in his own way, he considered me his. Sending me out to be controlled by another man, especially a man who would kill me at the drop of a hat, didn't sit well with him. He was wrestling with himself on this one.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. I trust you and I know you wouldn't let anything happen to me." I put my hand over his to reassure him. His eyes turned to liquid fire when I touched him. Tank cleared his throat and I looked over at the guys averting their eyes and looking elsewhere.

I looked back to Ranger and his eyes bored into mine, his breathing slow and deliberate. "I don't know what I would do if you got hurt because of something I asked you to do."

"I won't."

"I worry."

I smiled. "I thought Batman didn't get scared."

"I worry for you on a daily basis, Babe." He kissed the tip of my nose and stood up. "I've asked Ella to get a wardrobe for your mission. It's up in my apartment. Do you want to come see what she got?"

My heart thudded in my chest. "Uh, sure."

I waved to Tank and Ram and followed him down the hallway.

He guided me to the elevator with a hand on the small of my back. The heat from his touch made my skin tingle and my body was still shaking from our earlier encounter. I wasn't sure if I would be able to, or even want to, keep my hands off him.

"Maybe doing the clothing thing is a bad idea right now," I said when we reached the seventh floor.

"It's not. We need to get the clothes on you and get your monitoring system in to the clothing where it can't be detected. Ella's up here, she's going to help strategically place the equipment," he said with a grin. I looked at him. "What, did you think it would just be you and me up here with all these slutty clothes?"

_Hoping was more like it._I nudged him with my elbow and proceeded to his dressing room where Ella was waiting.

An hour later, my clothes were ready for my mission and I was ready for a stiff drink. Ranger's eyes were devouring me and I felt the heat all the way to my doodah. Tonight was going to be all about us, we both knew it. He was worrying over what he had asked me to do and I was worrying over what I had to do.

Ella must have sensed the climate change because she made up an excuse about a cake in the oven, at least, it sounded like an excuse to me, and quickly left the room.

"Babe," Ranger said, his voice husky.

I let out a shaky breath and stared at him. I was wearing a hot pink transparent spandex tube top, black daisy dukes with my ass hanging out the back, thigh high black leather boots with four inch spike heels, and some gold hoop earrings. The only thing I was missing was my slut hair and makeup, but that would all come in due time.

He crossed the room and swept me into his embrace, his mouth crashing down onto mine. Ranger could be gentle with his kisses, but he could also be passionate and violent. This kiss fell into the passionate and violent category and mine were meeting his full force. His hands slid the tube top up over my head and he bent to kiss my neck as he caressed my back. Off came his shirt and he was pressing me against him. I gasped when my breasts touched his bare chest. It was electric being with Ranger. He was Batman, after all.

Soon our clothes were gone, his mouth trailed kisses down my shoulder and over my breasts. His fingers found my happy place and I think I started to growl a little. No man could get me in such a state, not even Morelli. Ranger was a drug. I dug my hands into his hair and pressed him close to me. He slid his hands under my bottom and lifted me up against the wall, entering me as he did so. _Omigod!_

Afterward, he carried me to the bed and made love to me slowly until I thought I couldn't move. Much later when we could both breathe normally, he gathered me to him, kissing my neck. "I do love you, Babe. Just remember it. I won't let anything happen to you."

My throat constricted at the realization that he didn't qualify or quantify his love for me. I still didn't know where this put us, but I had his love for now and I knew he would do whatever it took to keep me safe.

"I know." I cuddled into him and drifted to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_Note: As always, the characters and descriptions recognizable as Janet Evanovich's do not belong to me. I am using them for my own entertainment purposes._

* * *

Crazy dreams plundered my sleep and, even with Ranger's arms around me, my mind raced with all the possible things that could go wrong on this mission. The last thing I remembered from my dream was Belfiore's face, his eyes bloodthirsty eyes staring at me, and he was holding a gun pointed straight at my heart. I woke shouting, my arms and legs flailing around.

"Shhh," Ranger whispered, pulling me tight into his embrace. "It was just a dream. You're safe here with me."

I calmed down and gripped him in a fierce hug. "We don't have to do this," he said quietly.

I pulled back and looked into his eyes. I wouldn't let him down, no matter what it took. "No, I'm doing it."

He sighed and put his forehead to mine. "This is out of my comfort zone, too."

I looked at him in bewilderment. Batman wasn't invincible, he had weaknesses; and I realized then that I was one of them. The idea gave me a little tremor of hope. "You have a guy on the inside, you've set up clients to fill up my time ... what could possibly go wrong?" I smiled.

His hands started a whisper-like journey down my back as he spoke, "This is _you_ we're talking about, Babe."

I narrowed my eyes at him a little. "Are you saying you don't trust me?"

"No." His hands moved lower, teasing at my lower back. "I'm saying that crazy shit happens to you, things no one can predict. Normal fiascos wouldn't bother me so much." He pulled me tighter to him, his hands slipping even lower caressing down my cheeks to my thighs, then back up.

He had a point about the crazy shit. He leaned forward to kiss the corner of my mouth and I felt my heat hitch up about five hundred degrees. He kissed the opposite corner and now I started to squirm. I let my hands move along his body in exploration and slid my leg up to hook over his hip.

His eyes immediately darkened to black and sent a shot of liquid fire all the way to my toes. I _loved_ the way his eyes changed. He wasn't forthcoming with his feelings and I didn't know many things about him, but when his eyes changed like that...

He rolled onto his back and brought me with him so I was laying on top of him. I looked at him, my breath trapped in my lungs, but he merely smiled. My heart slammed against my ribs with a dull thud. "Kiss me, Babe."

_Oh. My. God._ Batman had just put me control, but what did it mean? His thumbs stroked over my hip bones and I decided it didn't matter right now. I smiled and began placing light kisses along the baseline of his lower lip and pulled back, looking into his eyes. His long, curly black lashes dipped ever so slightly and a fire lit in the depths of his eyes that sent power charging through my veins. I was in control of Batman!

Heady with that knowledge, I began an exploration of him with my lips and tongue. I licked, kissed and tasted his jaw, earlobes, neck, and his collarbone. My hands splayed across his chest as I leaned down to nip and lick his rich brown nipples. I ran kisses down his arms, paying close attention to the indentation of his muscles. I heard him catch his breath when I lightly nipped the delicate skin in the crook of his elbow.

I traced each of his glorious abdominal muscles with my lips, and then kissed and placed little love bites along the way down. Wow, his body was fantastic. When I leaned down and placed a kiss on his hipbone, he dragged me up until my eyes were level with his. He stared into my eyes for what seemed like an eternity, then kissed me senseless. "Finish it, Babe."

In answer, I kissed him and slid my legs up to straddle his hips. He held my waist to guide me over him and then continued to hold it firmly as I moved against him until, spent, I collapsed in a heap of weak flesh on top of him. My skin was steaming and I was surprised the windows weren't foggy.

I felt him smile against my temple. "Damn, Babe." I think I smiled, too, but I couldn't tell.

He gently rolled me over and proceeded to use up the rest of _his_ energy pushing me over the edge time after time before finally following me. After, we both dropped off into a dreamless, well-deserved sleep.

***

The next morning, Ranger woke me around 8:30. I groaned and snuggled my body close against his.

"As much as I'd love to repeat last night, we have to get you ready to go to Stark Street." He kissed me gently and pulled himself away before he changed his mind. "Come on."

He dragged me out of bed and I got a quick shower before pulling on the outfit I wore the night before when he'd taken me to his bed. The exception this morning was that I had my hair up piled on top of my head in ringlets, thick mascara on my lashes, heavy makeup on my eyes, and bright, hot pink lipstick covering my lips. I thought I would fit right in on Stark Street, especially with the bruises from Belfiore still fresh on my body.

I joined him in the kitchen and saw his eyes focus in on me and I shivered. I would never be immune to this man, not that I wanted to be. I sat at the kitchen island and spread cream cheese on the toasted bagel he had waiting for me. After I inhaled it at an embarrassing pace, I looked up at him while licking the last of the cream cheese from my fingertips.

"Okay, we need to leave _now_," he said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the apartment. We rode the elevator down to the parking garage and ran into Tank on our way out of the elevator. Tank hadn't been paying any particular attention to us. He seemed lost in thought searching for something in his wallet.

"Tank," Ranger said.

Tank snapped to attention and took in the scene of Ranger holding onto my arm. He paled and blushed all at the same time. "Who's _that_?" Ranger stared at him with a twitch in his jaw. Tank took a second look at me and blushed even more, averting his eyes. "Sorry. Didn't recognize you."

He started to leave and Ranger called him again. "You're in charge here. We're getting Stephanie set up at Martin's place over on Stark. Tell the men to stay alert."

"Yes, sir," Tank said, walking forward while still looking back at us and crashed into the doorway.

"And Tank."

Tank looked dumbfounded and rubbed his shoulder. "Yes, sir?"

"Keep your eyes off my property."

"Yes sir." He stepped into the elevator never once looking back at us again.

"Property?" I asked.

"The men need to remember their boundaries. Even now I hate to think what's going on in the control room with the men on the monitors. Let's get out of here before something happens that I'll have to kill them for later." He got into the Porsche Turbo and I slid in next to him. His eyes softened and he leaned over to buckle my seatbelt and placed a soft kiss on my nose.

He pulled out of the garage and glanced over at me. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm okay." I bit my lower lip, worrying over whether or not I would do or say the wrong thing. After a couple of minutes, I smiled at him. "You know, you're going to have to be okay with Tank seeing me like this ... and even touching me a little." Ranger had given me a choice between Ram and Tank as one of my regular customers and, since I knew him better, I chose Tank.

He gripped the steering wheel just a bit tighter. "I know."

"And the other clients, too." _Was I really trying to provoke him about this now of all times?_

"Do you want me to call it off?"

"No." _Oops._

He relaxed into his zone for the rest of the trip. We parked on a side street just off Stark Street near Martin's building a short while later. I chewed my lip, looking out through the tinted windows of the Turbo. The reality of what I was going to do struck me. What was I thinking? What if someone I knew saw me? What if someone I knew approached me for a trick? I started to hyperventilate a bit.

Ranger's hand found the back of my neck and started to knead the muscles gently. He was quiet and watching me closely. "I'll be fine," I said. _I hope._

He pulled me into his embrace. "I meant it, you don't have to do this." He kissed my cheek. "In fact, forget it. I'm calling it off. This was a bad idea. The _worst_ idea ever."

"No!" I said. I didn't want him to think he couldn't count on me. "It's the only way. I just had some momentary jitters. I started worrying about what I would do if I was approached by someone I knew from the Burg, it made me nervous."

He looked into my eyes, his unreadable. "You're one of the bravest women I know, Stephanie." He kissed me and slid his hand around to grip the base of my neck. "Are you _sure_ you're okay with this?"

I nodded. "I'm sure."

"Okay. You have a panic button, bug, stun gun, pepper spray, untraceable cell phone, and your gun." I looked in my bag, found my gun, and checked it for bullets.

He shook his head. "You know I always load it."

"I know. I just wanted to see them." I was nervous and maybe a bit trigger happy.

He sighed. "If you keep getting that look on your face, I'm not going to be able to let you go in there."

I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Too late. We're all set."

He nodded. "Just try to make friends, see if you can get info on Belfiore. These girls know something. Shit like this doesn't happen without people seeing," he said, pulling me into his arms as if he were willing his strength into me. "They refuse to talk to the police."

I nodded and thought about how moments like these were the moments when people said their last goodbyes or confessed how much they really loved each other. I was thinking it, but I wouldn't go there. I also didn't expect that he would, either. I hugged him close, breathing in his scent. Besides, I would be seeing him at varying intervals throughout my time here. It would be fine, I would be fine.

"Babe." It was all he would say. It was everything and nothing, but it was just what I needed. He kissed me and then I eased myself out of the car. "Be careful," he said as I closed the door and sashayed myself around the corner. Martin's building came into view and my step faltered.

I turned and looked at the Porsche, sitting back a few car spaces. I smiled at Ranger and did my hooker walk all the way up to the sidewalk where two working girls stood.

They looked me up and down and the older one stepped toward me. "You got a reason fo' being on our corner, bitch?"

I chomped on the piece of gum I'd shoved into my mouth when I left Ranger's car. "Yeah. I'm lookin' for Jenna. She said Martin needed some new girls. Thought I'd come by to check it out. You know?"

She took in my appearance, which mimicked hers very closely, and nodded. "Okay. Go in, second floor. Room 2B. She'll tell you what you need to know and she'll introduce you to Martin." She waved the other girl over closer to us. "I'm Tenille, this is Monica. No stealin' our customers … or else."

I nodded coolly and said, "That's cool. I'm Ronda. I've got regulars followin' me here, so no problem. I guess I'll see you around." Then I entered the building that would be my home for the next week or so.

Inside, I could tell that it was an old rundown hotel. The front desk was still in place, though the desktop consisted of rotting wood and was splinter city. There were stains on it that were unidentifiable, but I suspected some of the larger patches were blood. The walls had old, stained and yellowed floral wallpaper that was peeling off more than it was staying on.

The stairs didn't look much better. The wood in some of them had huge cracks and didn't appear to be strong enough to support any weight, much less mine. I gave a mental sigh and started my ascension to my doom. Near the top of the stairs I got a huge splinter into the center of my palm. "What the ... ow!" I said looking at my bleeding flesh. I gritted my teeth and plucked the plank of wood out of my hand and watched the blood ooze out. Great, I hoped I didn't get any communicable diseases off the railing.

I grabbed a tissue from my bag and pressed it to my cut. At the top of the stairs, I saw a thin young woman leaning against a door. Above the door was a small plaque that read 2B. I approached her. She had straggly blonde hair, washed out blue eyes that were blood shot and hollow, pale skin that looked almost yellow, and fresh needle marks in her arm. _Great,_ I thought.

"Are you Jenna?" I asked.

She turned her head toward me, her eyes not focusing. "Me? Jenna? Yeah, that's me."

"I heard you're the one to see if I want to work here. Someone said you needed a roommate," I said, hoping her room wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be.

"Yeah. My old roommate, Shirley, bought it a few days ago." She opened the door. I looked in and saw a dark, dingy room with no curtains. The morning light streaming in from outside was the only light in the room. The floorboards were bare, there were clothes on the floor, and used condoms all around the trash can. To the right was a mussed bed I guessed to be Jenna's. It had no sheets, just a thin blanket and a lumpy pillow with no pillow case. There was a syringe on the night stand next to the bed along with a spoon, lighter and some other drug paraphernalia I didn't recognize. This was about as close as I had ever been to actual drug use and I gained a whole new respect for Morelli working Vice all those years.

A stripped bed stood across the room near the bare window. The mattress had darkened blood stains. No, actually, it had a _huge_ blood stain in the middle of it. I felt my gorge rise and turned back to Jenna.

"Hey, Jenna. Where did Shirley, uh, buy it?" I asked, panic rising in my throat.

Jenna shrugged, a faraway look in her eyes. "Across town somewhere. She was discovered in a junk yard. So gross."

I looked at the bed and she must have zoned in on me for a second because she said, "Oh. Sorry about the mattress. I got pissed at one of my guys and threw a bottle of wine. It sorta got all over your mattress. I think I got all the glass, but be careful."

I crept closer to the mattress and saw that, indeed, it didn't really look like blood when you were close enough. I didn't have sheets, so I was going to have to figure out a way to sleep without completely losing it. If I got one sheet, I wouldn't even need a pillow. I could get a sheet and a little blanket and I'd be fine. I would.

I looked over at Jenna. She was lying on her bed, eyes unfocused. Wow, she was really flying right now. I figured this was my only chance to make a quick call.

"Yo," Ranger answered on the first ring. "How are you?"

"Good," I said. "Mostly."

"Explain."

"I have a crater in the palm of my hand from a huge piece of wood that broke off the banister and embedded itself there. I might need a Band-Aid."

"Maybe a tetanus shot, too."

"Maybe, but otherwise I'm fine."

Really?"

"No, I've been better, but it's okay." He was silent. "I need a sheet and a blanket. I have a mattress and that's it."

"You don't need anything else?" he asked, sounding slightly amused.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"Nope. Proud of you, Babe." He disconnected. I knew I'd be getting sheets, but I wasn't sure how.

Turned out that I didn't have to wait long. About half an hour later, there was a knock on my door. I opened it to Tenille. She stepped in and handed me a small duffel. "Friend of yours dropped this off. This is a freebie. Stuff gets left around here usually disappears. Since you're new, I'm helping this once."

"Oh, thanks," I said and put the duffel on my bed.

"Lucky I'm in a good mood," she said and left the room.

I stepped to the window and looked out, spotting the Porsche right away. My pulse quickened at the fact that Ranger was in my view. If anything were to go wrong, I could easily signal him.

Inside the duffel were a sheet, a blanket, and a small pillow. I made a mental note to thank Ranger properly when this was over.

In a short while, my bed was made and I had my clothes in the drawers in my night stand. I'd been shocked to discover boxes of condoms, lubes, handcuffs, whips, and other fun assortments in the bottom of the duffel bag. There was a note in the bottom of the bag. _Cover._

I rolled my eyes and put the things in the top drawer. Ranger had thought of everything, including giving me items that made me look like a real prostitute. I was going to punish him for the amount of fun he was having at my expense.

Now I wasn't sure what to do. Jenna was supposed to make introductions, but she was in no state for that. Or was she? _Hmm_. I decided maybe the meeting would be better if she wasn't back on earth.

"Hey, Jenna," I called out.

"Yeah?" she asked, slowly.

"Um, you wanna take me down to see Martin? I wanna make sure he's gonna let me stay," I said casually.

"Sure. Follow me." She dragged herself up and stood, weaving around on her feet. I thought for sure she would fall down the stairs if she went on her own.

As it was, I didn't have to watch her fall down the stairs. A man was standing at the top of the stairs when we opened the door. He swung his head around slowly to look at us with wary green eyes with yellowed whites. He was about my height, had caramel colored skin, hair in long dreds, a gold front tooth, and gold chains around his neck. A lot of gold chains.

"Oh, hey, Martin," Jenna said breathily. "This is ... um, a new girl. She's taking Shirley's bed."

He looked me up and down and nodded his head. "What's yo' name, 'ho?"

"Ronda, baby"

He nodded and wove his way down the stairs. He was the second person I saw today who was high as a kite, but I was really glad that Martin was too high to pay me much attention.

"Looks like you're in," Jenna said before disappearing back inside our room.

_Lucky me_.


	7. Chapter 7

_Note: Janet Evanovich's characters and descriptions do not belong to me. I am using them only for entertainment purposes._

* * *

I busied myself during the day talking to everyone in the house and making acquaintances of the girls around the building. Evening was now settling in and I decided to head downstairs to wait for my first _customer_ to arrive. I walked around in the lobby, mingling with those who had gathered to party. It was evidently the social hub of the business.

A door slammed down the hallway and I heard Martin's voice carrying above the din of the room. "You dumb 'ho. Get yo ass out here before I drag you out by yo hair!" _Friendly environment._

Martin came down the hallway, doped up and weaving around with a glossy-eyed girl draped against him. She couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen and I could see that she was already on her way to a crazy overdose sort of death. Seeing her brought about all these horrible mothering instincts in me that I had sufficiently suppressed to this point.

I watched as he mingled with those around him, as well, doing complicated handshakes with the guys, slapping girls' asses, taking a toke here and a drink there. _Old Crack Donald._ He approached me and I felt my heart jump to my throat. In spite of myself, I slid a friendly smile onto my face and gave him a finger wave.

"Hey, baby." He nodded to me and gave my ass a hard smack as he walked by. _Ow!_Despite the sting, relief flooded through me at his dismissal. I was handed a beer and sipped it cautiously, knowing my tolerance for alcohol was low, especially since I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten.

I checked my watch and realized I was two minutes late to be out at my corner. Jenna had shown me where Shirley's old spot was and told me I could have it. I got the communication to Ranger and he'd set a rendezvous time. It seemed that everyone was cool with me bringing my own clientele, so I didn't receive any animosity or threats. We were all in this together, working to survive.

In a panic, I slammed my beer down on the reception desk and strutted out the front door. I didn't think it would do for people to see me running. I had to stay cool, but I knew Ranger was probably lacing up his Bates extra tight, ready to break in a door if I didn't surface outside soon.

I walked around the building to my corner, taking long strides and swinging my hips, chest up, ass out. If I was going to play this part, I needed to display the goods and look like I wanted people to buy me. A black car waited by my corner. The windows were tinted, but I guessed it to be Ranger's undercover car. As I got closer, I could see that it was a Volvo that had seen better days. The window rolled down halfway and I saw dark eyes staring out at me. I leaned down to the window and formed my lips into a sultry pout. "What? No sexy Porsche?"

"Get in," he said.

"Touchy," I answered and opened the door. Once I was inside, he sped away down Stark Street to our home base for this mission, a sleazy motel a few blocks away, called _Stark Place_, which was a famous liaison point for _business_meetings. I looked him over. He had gold studs in his ears and a thick gold chain around his neck. On his head, was a black NY cap with white lettering resting backwards on his head. The rest of his outfit consisted of an oversized, long-sleeved white T-shirt, baggy jeans that were riding low on his hips and held up by a black leather belt, and a pair of white cross trainers on his feet.

"Hmm," I said, crossing my legs.

He slid his eyes to me briefly and then turned his attention back to the road. We were to the hotel in a matter of minutes. He was out before I could open my door. _Uh oh._ He waited for me to get out and attach myself to his hip, looking like a girl who intended to give him a good time. I hooked my thumb into the front of his waistband and gripped my hand over the button to give the appearance that I planned to make him a happy man. In truth, I hoped it wasn't far from the truth. To look a little more like a working girl, I threw in a little drunkenness, which may or may not have been all that pretend after drinking a beer on an empty stomach.

When we reached our 'control' room, he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me up against his chest, carrying me inside. Once inside, however, he set me down and crossed the room. He had a folding table with surveillance equipment sitting on top, a folding chair beside the table, a small refrigerator, which no doubt held water and other healthy snacks, and a pizza box sitting on top of it. The smell made my mouth water. I was starving. He turned to face me, his expression somber. "You were late."

I opened my mouth to speak, unsure of whether or not I should be upset with him. "I had a zoo to walk through! I didn't want to just barge out and act like no one existed! I was meeting the people _you_ said to get close to."

He slowly approached and stood in front of me, staring down into my eyes, his expression completely unreadable. "I didn't tell you to be late."

"Are we really going to use this time to argue?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest, not realizing the action pushed my breasts up for easier viewing. His eyes flicked downward and I continued, "Are we going to waste the few moments I have out of that hellhole to argue about two measly minutes?"

"Babe..."

"Please understand that I don't feel like I can just waltz out of there as if I'm on a time clock. You, of all people, should know that I have to stay in character. I don't know many of the girls in that building that give a damn about what time it is." I was angry, hungry, and upset with myself for not making the time and causing him worry, which I suspected was the bigger issue.

He didn't budge. "If you're not on time, how will I know if things are okay with you?"

I sighed and sat in the folding chair. "I don't know. I'm tired, hungry, and stressed out." _Not to mention that my knight in shining armor didn't exactly give me the glorious reception I expected._

Ranger squatted down in front of me, his hands resting on my knees. "I just want to know that you're safe. We have a guy inside, but we don't have open comms." He slid his hands up my thighs and leaned closer. "I don't want to find out there's a problem and get in there too late to help."

I fiddled with a loose string on the hem of his sleeve. "I know. I'm just feeling a lot of pressure to not screw this up."

"You won't screw it up." He stood and pulled me to him. "Now, how about I get that half hour I'm paying for."

Forty minutes later, Ranger dropped me off at my corner fed and satisfied, not necessarily in that order. Being with him had given me a boost of confidence and the shot of courage I needed to walk my corner and proceed into about six other cars that came at pre-planned times.

About four of the men I didn't know, but I knew they worked for Rangeman. I recognized their faces. We had established a safe phrase so that I wouldn't get into a car with the wrong guy. My guys had to say the phrase _big baby blues_ to help me recognize they were legit. I also knew that they had to be wearing all black. If the driver didn't give me the safe phrase, I would tell him I was waiting for a regular and send him on his way. I'd had to use this measure a couple of times and it went off without a hitch. All was going according to plan. I couldn't believe my luck.

When the guys arrived, I did my hooker bit before getting into the car. I needed to make it look like a solicitation. Each time, we drove to a predetermined destination point at one of the area sleazebag hotels. I walked in with my body plastered all over them and then we'd sit and play a game of cards, make some loud obscene noises, sometimes bounce on the mattress, then leave about twenty minutes later. We had to make it look real without making it real. I always came back with cash to give Stevie, Martin's bookkeeper. If this was all there was to being a hooker, I could probably do it without guilt.

***

My sixth car had just pulled away and I thought I was done for the evening, when another black sedan pulled up. The window rolled down and the driver asked, "Hey, you and your big baby blues want to get in?" I gave him the price, just in case people were close enough to overhear. He nodded and I got into his car. He pulled away from the curb and began driving up Stark.

The man was fit, in his mid thirties, clean shaven, and dressed in all black in a dress shirt, black slacks and black shoes. A little fancy for Rangeman, but we all had character roles to fill. He seemed shy, but that didn't faze me. Most of Ranger's men had a fear of getting too close to me and suffering his wrath. I had never seen him before, but Ranger had quite the booming business and I hadn't seen over half of his employees. I was just going to ask the guy to pass a message to Ranger to provide me with photos of my prospective clients when the guy asked, "So, do you have a place you normally go to do this?"

I felt a jolt of panic shoot through my heart. "Go?"

He looked around nervously. "Yeah, so we don't get caught."

_Oh shit!_ I did my best to take a couple of deep breaths slowly so he wouldn't see how scared I was. My mind was spinning. I looked in the side view mirror, but didn't see a tail. I was alone with this guy.

I hoped I could use his nervousness against him so I could get the hell out of the car. "Sugar, we do it _in_ the car. I don't go into a room with people I don't know."

He started to sweat a bit. "I've, uh, never done this sort of thing before." _No kidding._ "I caught my wife cheating on me and I decided that I would cheat on her, you know, even things out a bit."

I did a mental eye roll and gave him my best vixen smile. "Well, pull over hot stuff. I'm going to show you the best time."

"Here?" he squeaked.

I nodded, with a dangerous smile. "Just pull right over. It won't take long, I'm an expert."

He pulled over and I slid across the seat to him. I traced my finger along his shirt collar. "So, what do you like?"

"Um..." He looked around, drew in a shaky breath, and then shook his head. "No. Sorry, I can't do this. What if we get caught? I've never been _arrested_ before. I can't go through with it. I'm a _lawyer_. What would people say?" He started fumbling in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Sorry, this just has to be over _without_ me, uh, us finishing."

_That was close._ I smiled and slid back to my side of the seat. "No problem, sugar. You want to just take me back to where you got me?"

He shook his head, a horrified expression on his face. He was in a real panic now. "No, I'm sorry. You're going to have to go. Just get out here." He drew a hundred dollar bill out of his wallet and threw it at me. "Just take this. I'm sorry I wasted your time."

I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. "You're just going to kick me out here? It's four blocks back to Martin's! There are no street lights, I could get mugged!"

"I'm sorry. Just get out." He put his hand over his eyes and waved me away.

I rolled my eyes, opened the door, and got out. He sped away as fast as his cheap car could take him and I stood looking around. I could _barely_ see my hand in front of my face, it smelled, and I wasn't sure which direction I needed to go. There was a tall building behind me and a slightly shorter one in front of me. A dog was barking in the distance. The crisp fall night was starting to make me cold and I wished I'd had a jacket with me.

I stood still in the silence, thinking, and then I heard footsteps from the corner coming toward me.

I carefully backed up to the building, moving my feet back gingerly, hoping I wouldn't kick something. My hand hit the wall and I felt a small alcove of sorts cut into the wall. I slipped inside and leaned against the wall. My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears that I couldn't hear. I held my breath and tried to listen. Another pair of footsteps joined the first. I heard two figures walk past. I didn't move a muscle. They continued on a little ways and then turned around and headed back toward me.

_Where is Ranger?_ Of all the times I got into a sticky situation, I had to get into one in an alley down by Stark Street. The footsteps stopped just in front of where I was hiding. My heart was rattling a mile a minute in my chest. Then one of them spoke, "She can't be too far away, the signal came from right around this area." A flashlight clicked on and I saw the owner.

_Tank._

I sighed and scrambled out of my hiding spot after them. The other one turned around and stopped me cold with a gun barrel to my forehead. "Don't shoot," I said.

"Babe?" Ranger asked, lowering his gun and putting it away. I was trembling. I'd never been on the receiving end of Ranger's violence, but I could imagine it to be a terrifying thing. I nearly peed myself and I knew he loved me. Being hunted by him would make me die of fright. He wouldn't have to shoot me.

His arms came around me in a crushing hug. "Did anything happen?"

I shook my head and my teeth chattered with cold and relief. "No. He was a newbie. Angry with his wife for cheating, but terrified to do it in the car."

He pulled back slightly. "You want to run that one by me again?"

I explained about trying to spook the guy out. I thought he'd think I was brilliant, but I could tell that he wasn't amused. "And what would you have done if he'd taken you up on it. It's dark out here."

"I knew he was afraid. Didn't you tell me I have good instincts?" I asked.

He pulled me close to him again. "Yes, but you got into a car with a _real_ customer looking for _real_ sex. I was out of my mind over that."

I decided that I wouldn't have been as calm if I had been in his shoes. "I'm sorry. He gave me the safe phrase, though, and he was dressed in all black."

"We need a better plan," Ranger said.

"Well, I need to know who I'm looking for. I don't want to say the wrong thing in front of the wrong guy. Maybe it'd be better if I had some pictures of the people who are authorized to pick me up," I said.

"Yeah, that could work." He kissed my temple. "I'll get on it and get you some pictures as soon as possible. Meanwhile, we have to get you back without things looking suspicious."

I thought for a minute. "Just have Tank walk me back. No one will mess with me if he's around. He hasn't been a customer today and I could take him up to my room for a few minutes, then send him out."

"You'd have cash for Martin, too."

"Uh, I have that, no worries."

His hands closed around my arms and he lifted me up high enough that my feet left the ground. "How?"

"Mr. Scaredy gave it to me so I would leave his car."

He pulled me to him for a kiss. "I'm going to need a drink when this is all over."

I gave him a surprised look. "Desecrating the temple over me?"

"These are extenuating circumstances."

"Okay, well, I'm going to need a shower when it's over."

"That would be fun, too."

Tank and I walked back to Martin's without incident. When we walked in, I slapped the $100 bill into Stevie's hand and pulled Tank up the stairs to my room. I led him in and told him he could sit on my bed until the time had passed.

We'd been sitting there about five minutes when I heard the knob turn. My knee jerk reaction was to launch myself onto Tank's lap, straddling his legs, throw my arms around his neck and start kissing it. Just before the door opened, I reached around and put his hands on my ass.

To give him credit, he didn't pass out, but he hissed, "Jesus, Ranger's going to kill me."

"Just play along," I whispered back.

Jenna entered the room and stopped. "Oh, sorry. Is it okay if I do my thing in here?"

She had a pudgy man with her whom I guessed to be in his late fifties. He was eyeballing Tank and I through is wire-framed glasses. "How much extra to join in?"

Tank set me aside and stood, giving his meanest glare.

"Um, actually, I'm a one girl kind of guy, too," he squeaked and followed Jenna over to her bed.

Tank sat back down on my bed and gave me a "what do we do now" look. My "I have no fucking clue" look didn't help. I finally decided that if I didn't do something I would completely blow my cover. I didn't think Jenna was a snitch, but I did think that she was sort of too out of it to know when not to comment on oddities, such as a hooker who didn't get it on with her client. Pudgy was starting to make some interesting noises and I was fighting back the giggles.

Tank looked pale and fretful. I eased onto his lap again and stroked his cheek. "This your first time with a pro, baby?"

He nodded. "What do you want?" I asked.

He gulped and then I saw his eyes change. He picked up a little and said, "Can we just start with hugging?"

I nodded. "You came to the right girl, baby. I'm going to be real gentle with you."

Tank and I hugged, whispering plans to each other. Pudgy was getting loud and calling Jenna a "naughty little girl" and would occasionally give her a smack on her ass. I nearly lost it when he started making Mr. Ed noises. When about ten minutes had passed, I decided it was time to end the fun. I didn't think I could handle Pudgy's big finish. I kissed him on the mouth, a slow, gentle kiss, and then got up. "Your time's up, sugar. Will I see you tomorrow?"

He nodded, handed me a bill, and walked out red faced and surely on his way to confess and receive Ranger's wrath. I only hoped he remembered to wipe my lipstick off his neck before he faced his boss. I felt bad for him. He was a nice guy and always had my back. I kept my face averted as I left the room, not wanting to see anymore of the disturbing scene beside me. I waited in the hallway until Pudgy finally left and then went in to find Jenna lying on her bed spaced out.

"How long have you been doing this, Jenna?" I asked.

"I don't know. A couple of years, I guess." She looked around. "I gotta find some food."

"I have a Tastykake, you want it?"

"Sure, thanks." She accepted the package from me and opened it, taking small nibbles of the chocolate cupcake. I opened one for myself and sat on my bed to eat it. This was definitely a Tastykake moment.

"How about you?" she asked.

"Too long. I was married when I was in my early twenties, but my husband got sick of me and kicked me out. I didn't have any skills that were useful to get a job, so I just sort happened on this profession." I'd planned out responses such as these, but it was still weird to actually _say_ them.

We ate in silence for a few minutes. "So," I said, "things are a bit wacked around here right now, huh?"

She stared at her feet. "Yeah, wacked."

"Did they find the guy who did Shirley?" I asked.

Jena made a noncommittal gesture. _She knows._ I could feel it. I would have to work on her, though.

"I'd like to think that if I saw a person doing something like that, I'd do something," I said, watching her face closely.

Her lips pursed. "Everyone wants to think they can be superman and fly. But sometimes you're just the little guy and you know it's better to just keep your nose clean if you don't want it to happen to you." She looked at me. "You know what I mean?"

I nodded. End of conversation. I'd have to try to buddy up some more before I'd get any more information out of her.

Jenna was done for the night, so I felt secure going to bed. I stood in the window looking out at the Porsche sitting down the road with a wistful feeling in my chest. Then I turned off the lamp so he'd know I was safe in my bed.


	8. Chapter 8

_Note: Janet Evanovich's characters and descriptions do not belong to me. I am using them only for entertainment purposes._

* * *

The next morning I woke up disoriented. I rolled over and looked for my alarm clock, but it was gone. Realization struck me and I tipped my head up to look around. It wasn't a bad dream, I was still in this horrible little room and I had a crazy job to do.

I got up and pulled on a really short black spandex skirt. I noticed that this one was slightly more decent than the scrap of silk I'd worn to the real estate office. I guessed Ranger had that heart to heart with Ella over the clothing guidelines for me. I put on a bright green bikini top and a black crocheted net shirt over top. I made sure that my bug was clipped in place in my black lace thong, along with my panic button, and slid my feet into the thigh high black leather boots I'd worn yesterday. I finished the look with large green hoop earrings and clipped my hair back in a barrette, letting it fall wildly over my shoulders.

The bathroom was a hot mess in this building and I had decided I would have to utilize Ranger's shower if I wanted to get _clean_. Besides, if I was too clean cut, I wouldn't fit in. I was even considering that maybe I should add some _bruises_ to the veins on my inner arms, but I feared what sort of offers that may conjure up and decided against it.

I practically ran into Martin in the hallway when I'd shut the door and started off. "Whoa, baby. What's yo hurry?"

I plastered on a smile. "I was just going to see about getting something to eat."

"Well, I a got live one fo' you. Come wit me and I'll set you up." I nearly passed out at the suggestion. "This guy's real classy. A good friend of mine and he been askin' 'bout chu. I figured what the hell. Yo' new, but I see you out with yo' boys. You got a way. I'm sho he'll like you real good." He grabbed my arm and pulled my down the stairs after him.

"Is he waiting now? I just need something to eat. A donut, cup of coffee?" I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

"You listen. You'll eat after. I don't turn down none of my good friends. And if you know what's good fo' you, you won't either. Aight?" He looked into my eyes and I knew this man would lose no sleep over strangling me.

I nodded. He led me to a room on the first floor. "This is our special guest room. You make sho he _real_ happy when he leaves." His look told me that his guest had better be singing for joy when he left the building. "You do this right, I'll give you somethin' real _nice_ to reward you." I didn't even want to ponder what that could be.

I forced myself to smile, hoping it looked sexy, "Thank you, Martin."

"Call me Big Daddy, 'ho," he said, giving my chin a little squeeze with his thumb and forefinger. "Head on in, he waitin' fo' you."

I opened the door and slipped inside, taking a moment to try to steady myself. I couldn't believe it. After all of our precautions, I might actually have to really perform a sexual act and God knows what else. I put my hand on the wall and gulped air into my lungs. _I am not going to pass out. I am not going to pass out. Ranger's going to KILL. I am not going to pass out._

I put on my bravest smile and sashayed into the room, only stumbling once, which was surprising because my legs were trembling violently. I didn't know how I had the strength to stand and could only hope my guest thought it was from my first hit of the day.

A blonde man about six feet tall, muscular, and oddly familiar stood and turned toward me. I was trying to place him when he walked over and pulled me into his arms. "Hey, you look like you're ready for a lot of fun."

I felt nausea rise and tears forming behind my eyes.

"Hey, baby. Don't worry. Tom's got you. I'm going to take good care of you." I nodded and took a deep breath. _No crying, Stephanie!_

I called up my brave smile again and raised my eyes to him. I knew I'd seen him before. Warning bells started going off in my head because of the familiarity. I didn't enjoy running into strangers I thought I knew. I pulled in too many skips for it to be coincidence. I could only hope that I wasn't recognizable like this.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, leading me over to the bed. He pushed me down into a sitting position, and then sat next to me and raised my chin with his knuckle. "You have amazing eyes." He grinned at me. I tried to smile, but a sob hitched in my throat and I pretended to cough, hoping he hadn't noticed.

"Hey, you didn't answer me. Do you trust me?" he asked, his face unreadable.

I looked at him and nodded. Then to my horror, a single tear dripped off my lower lashes.

He smiled and wiped it away. "I can see why Ranger is completely taken in by you."

My eyes snapped to his gray ones. He was smiling at me. "Do you trust me now?"

I was so relieved that I let my tears loose and cried for a short while, my body trembling from all the pressure I'd been under. He handed me a tissue and held me close in a side hug until I calmed down. I wiped my face and sat up, staring at him. "I'm sorry. I'm so embarrassed. I was trying to keep it together, but I really thought that..."

"No, I'm sorry. I guess I didn't realize until it was too late that you were overstressed about this." He handed me another tissue. "Carlos always talks about how brave you are, I didn't account for the fact that you've had quite the time here already."

"You're the inside man?" I asked, blowing my nose.

"Yeah. I've known Martin for a long time. We went to school together. Carlos, too. I used to run with him, too. Now I just help him with undercover gigs sometimes. Like now." I nodded and eyed the breakfast tray on the table across the room.

"You hungry?" he asked, standing.

"Yeah, there's not much to eat around here. I don't exactly get a chance to run out for food."

"I'll try to help as much as possible. Martin doesn't like people being nice to his girls. Just remember that if I have to rough you up in front of him, okay?" I nodded and he poured me a cup of coffee.

"So, you went to school with, uh, Ranger?" I asked.

"Yeah. We've been best friends since we were thirteen." He grinned. "Got into some crazy shit back in the day."

"Tell me about him," I said.

"Carlos? Hmm, there's a lot to tell and not a lot of time. Let's see." He thought for a minute. "Oh! There was this time when me and Carlos decided to streak at a football game. You know, he wasn't concerned with the body being a temple back then." I selected a donut from the tray and bit into it. "He was alright, you know, but not a jock. Well, we got all naked and we had panty hose on our heads. Half time came around and we started to run out to the field, but it had been raining and we were barefoot. Just as we got to the field, there was a huge mud puddle that we didn't see and we both went face first into it. When we stood up, we were head to toe mud and it was caught in the hose."

He took a sip of coffee. "Well, we could hardly see anything and all of a sudden the whole football team came running at us. We were scared shitless, you know? So we high tailed it out of there. We were slipping all over the place and they were gaining on us. We didn't want to take off our hose; we were hoping we could get away so no one knew who we were. There was this wooden fence up ahead of us, so we scaled it and ran right into a swimming pool. Oh man, that was so _cold_! Luckily it was just late September and the owner hadn't winterized it, yet."

I grinned, trying to picture the scene, trying to picture Ranger as a clumsy teenager. "Did you get away?"

"No, man. We started to swim to the ladder and just then, our principal, Mr. Schwartz, steps out of the house. It was his house! Shit. We got detention until after Christmas for that. Not to mention we got our asses kicked by almost every football player that year. It was jacked." He grinned. "Carlos was always coming up with crazy ideas like that. He was so wild and uncontrolled. Nothing like he is now."

He sobered and studied me. "Well, I don't think he's very controlled around you, anyway."

I choked on my coffee. "Him? Not controlled?"

"Nope."

"What makes you say that?"

"He wouldn't get involved with women. Not after the service. He just decided that he'd find one once in a while to have fun with, but he wasn't going to let any into his life." He was watching me.

I wasn't sure what to think of this new knowledge. I mean, to me what Tom was saying was that I would never be _in_ Ranger's life. It only confirmed for me that there was no hope. I felt a little like someone had let the air out of me.

He smiled. "You don't think he has let you in, but he has. Just give him more time." He stood up and walked over to pick up a folder. "The fact that you have an all access pass to his place ... I don't even have that and I'm his best friend. I still have to knock when I come see him. Think about it."

He gave me the folder and said, "Look through these pictures. You need to memorize the faces. We had the guys put their costumes on so that it would be easier for you. If you don't recognize a man, don't get into his car. If you turn one of our guys down, they'll leave and someone else will come around."

I looked through the pictures. Most of them were easy because I either knew the guys or had seen them enough that I would have recognized them, but there were a few new faces, so I was glad to see the pictures.

I looked up and Tom was smirking at me. "What?" I asked.

"Do you want to hear about Tank?"

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Did he get into trouble? Tell me Ranger didn't go ballistic on him. It was my fault, my idea," I said, a little worried.

He grinned and sat down. "He came rushing into the room last night and he was a mess. There was hot pink lipstick on his mouth and his neck. Damn, Carlos shot out of his seat so fast, it tipped over." Tom started laughing. "I've never seen him look like that. Whoo! Tank took one look at Ranger and I thought he was going to pass out. He said, 'I kissed her, but I had to.' Then he said, 'And I didn't like it, I just sat there and let her kiss me until the old boy started whinnying like a horse.' Omigod, you should have seen Carlos!" Tom was practically rolling on the bed.

My jaw dropped. "Oh shit. Did he explain the horse thing?"

Tom shook his head. "No, he didn't get a chance. Carlos dropped him in one punch." He laughed some more. "He's not allowed to come see you anymore."

I was horrified. "Oh my God! I have to go tell Ranger what happened!"

"No way, this is hilarious. Don't worry about it, they'll work it out." Tom grinned and shook his head. "Man, that guy was so nervous. Oh ... hmm, maybe you should explain about the horse, though."

"It was my roommate's John. It was this old guy and he kept making this stupid whinnying noise. He sounded like a dying horse." I looked at Tom and I felt really bad for Tank. "I kissed Tank's neck a few times and kissed him goodbye so that it wouldn't blow my cover. Otherwise, we just pretended we were hugging and talked about when he was going to leave and how we were going to get him out of there without having to actually _do_ something in front of Jenna."

"Oh damn." Tom started laughing again. "Wow, Tank needs to learn to get his story lined up before he talks to Ranger, especially when it concerns you."

"God ... is Ranger angry with _me_?" I hadn't thought about it, but it _was_ my lipstick all over Tank after all.

"Hard telling."

"Shit." _Just what I needed._

***

Later that day, I was out walking my corner waiting for one of my fake clients to arrive. I was wearing bright orange spanky pants, bright purple leather boots with three inch wooden heels, a white halter top that did nothing to hide my assets, _huge_ purple hoop earrings, and a thick orange headband. I felt like a '70s revival on heels.

My make up was outrageously purple and black and my hair was a treacherous sight to behold with curls all over the place. I could no longer tame them. Taming them required water and I was in short supply. I'd been able to wash up a bit in Tom's room, which had a private bathroom, but what I needed was a good soak.

I had just turned the corner when Morelli sped past in his police issue maroon Crown Vic, slammed on his brakes, and reversed, coming up beside me and stopping. He had the window down and whisper shouted out at me, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

I leaned down on his window prettily, just like I'd done so many times before with my _clients_, sticking my ass out and my breasts forward. "Nothing, sugar. If you want to talk to me, you're going to have to arrest me."

I could see him clenching his jaw. "I don't know what's going on, but this had better be good. I'm on my way somewhere or else I'd take you up on that offer." He looked around and saw Martin walking toward us. "I take it this is a mission of yours?"

"Gotta run, honey. You have yourself a good little time now." I did a finger wave and walked away, swinging my hips seductively as I left.

Joe pulled away and Martin approached me. "Baby, you gotta be careful 'bout what cars you decides to approach. That was five oh."

I decided to look worried. "What?" I put my hands on my hips and looked around in confusion. "It didn't look like a cop."

"Baby, they's all kinds of cops and that was one mother fucker you don't never want to mess with." _From his lips to God's ears_, I thought. He put his arm around my shoulder and led me back to the building. "Let Big Daddy Martin take care of you, help you overcome your fright."

_Panic!_ I pulled back with a luscious smile. "That'd be real nice, but I have a regular coming. He should be here soon and he'd be _real_ unhappy to see I wasn't waiting."

"I don't recall axing you if you wanted to go. I told you to come, now you gonna come with me or yo ass is gonna be found in a hole somewhere." He reached down and adjusted himself and I could see that he was hard and he was in _the mood_. I didn't know how Ranger would get me out of this, but he had about thirty seconds to figure it out by my calculations.

Martin grabbed my elbow and muscled me toward the building. I went with him so as not to upset him. I didn't want to know how he would get me into the hole he'd mentioned. He took me to his apartment and left me standing in the middle of his living room. "Now, let me see what you got on you."

His bony hands gripped my top and split it down the center. I gasped as my breasts were exposed from their flimsy covering. "Yo' a little on the small side, but you got style, girl." He reached up and began squeezing my flesh, pinching and twisting my nipples and smushing my skin around. It was painful and degrading to stand in front of him like this. "Yeah, you like that, don't you?" I felt like a cow at market.

I nodded. My mind was racing. I had to get out of here, but if I ran I would blow my cover and possibly get killed. If Martin attempted to remove anymore clothing, he would discover my bug and I'd be dead for sure. I stood stock still, fear overcoming me.

There was a loud knock at the door. "Later!" Martin shouted and bent down and bit my breast. It was a hard bite that left deep purple teeth marks on my pale skin. I yelped in pain and I heard the wooden door crack and then bang open. Ranger stomped in, taking in the scene. His eyes were dark and unreadable, but I knew him well enough to know that he was mad. Really mad. There I stood with my breasts bare, Martin's hands on them, an ugly purple bruise turning darker by the second, and Martin's little man standing at attention through his jeans. I'd never been so happy to see Ranger in all my life.

"Hey, what the fuck you think you doing, man?" Martin reached behind him, presumably for a weapon, but Ranger was in front of him with his gun pressed against his forehead before Martin could pull his. "Okay, okay. We cool. What can Martin do fo' you?"

"We need to talk. Drop the gun." The gun fell to the floor and Martin put his hands up. "Get rid of the 'ho."

Martin turned to me, "You heard the man, get out of here." He kicked me hard in the knee and I heard a snap and screamed in pain. "Hurry up or I'll get Mitch to come help you out of here and he's not as nice as me."

I limped out of the room, trying to press the remnants of the broken fabric together to cover myself. I had a sinking feeling that my knee had just taken considerable damage, the kind that required surgery. It was excruciating to put any weight on it at all, but I didn't want to meet Mitch.

Once out in the hallway, I decided to head up to my room. I was on the second step, when I felt strong hands lift me. I looked up to see Tank as he cradled me to his chest. "Going up," he said, climbing the stairs and taking me to my room.

I knew Tank wasn't supposed to be anywhere near me, but I was guessing Ranger made an exception due to the circumstances. Either way, I was so relieved to see him that I pressed my face to his chest and sobbed muffled sobs of fear and pain against him. When we reached my room, he shut the door and sat on my bed with me on his lap, shushing me and squeezing me against the muscled wall of his chest. "T-t-t-tell R-r-ranger I n-n-need a d-doctor." I continued to cry, sharp pains were shooting through my knee and I didn't know what to do.

Tank hardly looked like himself. He was wearing khaki pants, a flowered hawaiian shirt, brown loafers, and a full mustache. It was a great disguise, but I knew he probably hated it. Add to it the very black eye he now had and he was downright scary looking.

Tank sighed and just held me tight. "I will." He looked down at my knee and compressed his lips in a grim line, then he pulled out his cell phone and spoke in hushed tones that my pain-clouded mind couldn't comprehend.

I was afraid to look at my knee, but did anyway. My knee was twice its normal size already, red with inflammation, and turning blue and purple with a bruise from Martin's shoe. "I th-think it's b-broken." Tank finished his call, and then threw my blanket over me and stormed out the door. We met Martin at the base of the stairs and Tank continued right past him.

"Hey, where you think you goin' with my 'ho?" Martin shouted.

"She had an accident with her knee and she needs a doctor," Tank said, glowering at Martin. "I'm taking her."

"What are you, her daddy?" Martin walked over to him, grabbed my arm and half pulled me out of Tank's arms, practically popping my shoulder out of socket. I yelped at the pain. "She ain't going nowhere!"

Tank loomed over Martin. "She's special. I come to see her and she treats me nice. Now I'm going to treat her nice and get her to a hospital where they can help her." He scowled at Martin. "You got a problem with that?"

Martin could see that he had a real dilemma. If he pressed Tank, he could get hurt. He also didn't want to lose a paying customer. "Aight. I hear you. Bring her back to me in one piece, cuz daddy's not done wit' his girl, yet." He smiled at me, his gold tooth shimmering in his mouth. He reached up and grabbed my hair, yanking my head back so he could look into my face. I groaned in pain and felt Tank's arms tighten around me. "You jes be sure you come back soon or I'll kill you next time I see you."

I managed a smile back at him and a little wave before Tank stormed out of the building and over to a waiting beat up, navy blue Econoline van. He slid into the backseat, still holing me, and shut the door. As Ram sped off, he turned and deposited me into Ranger's waiting arms..

"Oh my God, Babe." Ranger was dead calm, but his eyes held rage. "I could have killed him. I thought I was going to kill him when he did that to you."

"T-tank helped me. He was gr-great." I buried my face in his neck, inhaling the scent of Bulgari and Ranger. I just sobbed and clung to him. My physical pain was too much for me. I just wanted some good drugs and a warm, safe bed to sleep in again.

"We're done. You're not going back," he said flatly. "This was a mistake."

"No, I'm almost there. Jenna started to talk to me about the murders," I argued. I was so close.

"No, if you go back, you'll be brutalized. I can't take that chance." He stroked my cheek. "I never should have put you into harm's way. This is my fault. And I would really kill him if he touched you again."

I didn't have a chance to respond. We pulled up in front of the hospital and Ranger power walked me into the ER.

An hour later I was on my way to surgery. Four hours later, I was in recovery and Ranger was at my side, stroking my hair when Morelli walked in. I was too drugged and tired to have a conversation, so I held up a hand weakly at both of them. "Please be nice. I don't have the energy. I need sleep."

Morelli's eyes were angry as he stared at Ranger. "You could have gotten her killed."

"Me?" Ranger asked. "Martin never would have had her on his radar if you hadn't pulled that stunt this afternoon!"

Morelli's face paled. "Is that when this happened?"

I started crying again. I didn't handle anesthesia well and whenever I was put under it made me cry. Sobs wracked my body. "P-please j-just s-stop! It doesn't m-matter. I just want p-peace and qu-quiet."

Ranger continued stroking my hair and squeezed my hand, trying to calm me down. "Anything you want. Should we leave?"

"Not if you can b-both b-behave," I choked out on a sob. I felt fatigue overtaking me and yawned on the end of a sob. The last thing I saw was Joe staring at Ranger with a death glare. "I mean it, Joe," I managed to squeak out before sleep overcame me. I had no idea how much time had passed before I was awake and lucid. I opened my eyes to see Morelli and Ranger arguing in hushed voices.

"What do you mean you decided to take it into your hands?" Morelli whispered in a yell to Ranger. "You could have gotten her killed!"

"She knew the risks, she wanted to help." Ranger sounded tired and frustrated.

"This is over. She's not going back in," Morelli said firmly.

"I agree. No more. This was too close." Ranger rubbed the back of his neck and stretched.

"No," I croaked out. They both were at the sides of my bed in seconds. "I'm close. I think I can get a name. I just need to talk to Jenna one more time." My knee was aching and the two men who mattered most to me in the world were at each others' throats.

"Babe…" Ranger began. Joe's eyes snapped to him angrily.

"No. I'm doing it. I'll do it on my own if you won't help me," I said stubbornly.

"Cupcake, if you go back in there, you could get hurt again … or worse." Joe stroked my hand, his gaze softening a little, but he was still wearing his cop face. "You need to stay out of there."

I looked at him and searched his face. "Are we friends, Joe?"

He stared at me for a moment, still stroking my hand. "We're getting there."

I sighed. "Okay." I turned my head back to center so I could see both of them. "I have to talk to Jenna. One last time. You have to take me back." I looked at Ranger. "It's almost over."

Ranger sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Something he didn't do much, but had done quite often over the past few days. "Babe, it's not safe. Morelli is right. This is over."

I looked from one man to the other and decided it was best not to push my luck right now. I was too weak to argue my point. "Okay," I relented, "It's over."

Both men squeezed my hands, but Ranger's eyes narrowed slightly at me.


	9. Chapter 9

_Note: Janet Evanovich's characters and descriptions do not belong to me. I am using them only for entertainment purposes._

* * *

My recovery was slower than I anticipated. It took me three days to be able to use crutches without falling over or experiencing massive pain in my knee. My shoulder was also sore from Martin yanking on my arm, but still usable.

I'd stayed with Ranger and he was with me every minute. He'd even gone to my mother's to get Rex, my pet hamster, for me so I'd have company when he was out. My mother had been watching him for me when I'd gone to Martin's place, though, she thought my apartment was being fumigated. Of course, now she continually called my phone to ask about how I got hurt. I guess the Burg didn't know about my run-in with a pimp.

Ranger was by my side the entire time. He got ice, fed me, helped me sponge bathe, and just made me feel loved and safe. It was wonderful. This was a side of Batman I could get used to.

He went off on a couple of short assignments during the day a couple of times, but nothing major and was never gone longer than a couple of hours. I, on the other hand, was going stir crazy being locked up inside, but I was in no shape for sneaking around. Everyone heard me coming with my crutches and I couldn't run. Running was essential to sneaking out of prison.

I couldn't get Jenna out of my head. I really wanted to get Belfiore off the streets and I knew that Jenna would talk to me. Ranger had every available resource looking for him, but he had evaded capture thus far.

One day I was finally able to convince Ranger to let me visit Lula and Connie at the bonds office.

He thought for a minute and said, "Okay. You're feeling well enough?"

I nodded. "Yes, but I'm going crazy in here. I just want some fresh air and to visit with my friends. I'd also like to try to see Mary Lou today, too."

"I've got some errands to run, so I can take you over." He helped me to my feet and held me close, staring into my eyes for a beat. "I'm going to have Tank sitting outside, just in case."

_Just in case what?_I wasn't sure if it was to watch me or to watch over me.

I nodded and smiled. "Okay." He kissed me tenderly and pressed me close for a minute. "I don't like having you out there when you can't run or defend yourself." I felt a little twinge of guilt at that statement.

"You're okay with it when I can get myself into trouble?" I asked.

He gave me a smile. "At least if you have full use of your legs, you can do some damage."

I grinned. "Well, don't worry. Lula and Connie both have guns, and Tank will be right outside like you said."

Tank had been reinstated as Ranger's top right-hand man after I'd taken time to explain all that had happened in my room. Ranger had relaxed quite a bit after I'd explained about the horse. He had shaken his head slightly as amusement flooded his eyes. "He was probably shitting himself." I think Tank and I were on our way to becoming good friends, too. I think he appreciated the fact that I got him out of hot water; at least, I'd like to think so.

On the way out, Ranger took me to the five to say hi to the guys. They'd been asking about me, so he decided since I was feeling well enough to go out, he'd give them a chance to wish me well. I received hugs and smiles all around from the guys I knew as they crowded around to greet me. Tank gave me a huge bear hug, with Ranger's permission. I had a feeling he would never lay a hand on me again without express permission from Ranger's own lips.

We made our way out and left the building around 10:30. Ranger dropped me off and ushered me in through the front door of the bonds office. We'd taken the Cayenne because the Turbo was too compact for all of my needs with the crutches and not being able to bend my knee. "I'll be back in a couple of hours. That should give you plenty of time to catch up and fill Vinnie in on what's happened."

Lula and Connie were watching Ranger's departure with open-mouthed lust before turning to me. "Where have you been?" Lula asked. "What happened to you?"

Connie stood to help me ease myself down onto the couch. "Geez! No one even told us about this!"

I looked at Lula. "I was undercover."

"Undercover, my ass. Were you out of town?" Connie asked.

"Nope, Stark Street." They both gaped at me.

"Where were you at on Stark Street?" Lula asked.

"At Martin Holyfield's place," I said, waiting for the explosion. Lula did not disappoint.

"_What?_ The hell you say! I know you didn't just tell me you was with Martin and his little harem of love!" Lula shouted.

"Yes. And I need to go back and I need your help."

Lula stopped short and put her hands up. "No. Nuh-uh. No way. I am not going to crazy Martin's place. Did he do that to your knee? See, that's his signature move. He's one mean mother fucker."

"Yes, he is." He'd cracked my knee hard and the surgery I'd had was to repair my Anterior Cruciate Ligament, or ACL. Bastard. "I really need your help."

"What do you need me to do?" Lula asked.

"I need you to drive me over there and drop me off," I said, fear shooting through my gut. "I have to talk to Jenna one more time and Ranger won't allow it."

"That Ranger is a smart man. You going against Ranger, you leave me out of it." Lula stood looking at me with her hands on her hips. "You know that Martin is gonna finish what he started soon as he sees you."

"I know, but I'm hoping that I can hold him off while I heal. I'll convince him it will be better if I can get on my knees for him." I had thought it through. Martin liked to treat his girls like animals and make them crawl around. I'd heard horror stories about some of his eccentric tastes with sex. I figured he would take a rain check if I could be convincing enough and beg a lot.

"I'm thinking that if you take me over there, it will be a former 'ho taking care of a current 'ho. They won't think anything of my absence if they think I'm with you." Rather than Tank, who had carried me out like a Knight in shining armor.

"You got a point about Martin," Lula said. "I don't know why, but I'm going to help you. Then I'm going to get the hell out of there."

"Okay. Just give me one day and if you don't hear from me, tell Ranger," I said. I should be able to hold it together for one day.

***

It was almost lunchtime by the time we arrived at Martin's place. Lula and I had snuck out the back of the bonds office and borrowed Connie's car. I hoped Ranger wouldn't suspect a thing if Lula's car was still out front if he happened to pass by the building. Not to mention the fact that I had to make sure Tank didn't see us leave.

Lula helped me out of the car and into the building. I got up to my room in one piece and sighed, standing outside my door. I hadn't run into Martin, yet, though I knew it was a matter of time before he would realize I was here. Lula was long gone and I didn't have any Ranger back up. I was starting to think I'd lost my mind when I actually took time to think it through.

I decided to talk to Jenna as soon as possible and then figure a way out of this building. I opened the door and went in to our room. Jenna was changing her clothes getting ready to go out, but gasped when she saw me. "I heard he did a number on you, girl. I didn't know it was this bad." I sat down on my bed and started packing my stuff into my duffel bag.

I had a picture of Belfiore in my bag. I pulled it out and showed it to Jenna. "Was this the guy Shirley went with when she disappeared?"

Jenna looked at the picture and I knew that she knew who he was, but she shrugged. "Could be, but there are a lot of men coming through here."

"Jenna. I'm working undercover. I'm trying to help you girls, trying to stop this guy so he can't kill any more prostitutes. You could be next." I stood up, grabbed my crutches, and hobbled over to her. "Please. Is this the guy?"

She sighed and gave me a frightened look and whispered, "I saw him kill her. Snapped her neck with his bare hands right here in the room, right where you're standing." She leaned closer. "I pretended I was too high to notice and he walked out. I've been so afraid he was going to come get me."

"So, when he comes, it's to a specific girl and she's always dead?" I asked, getting creeped out.

"Yeah. It's strange. It's like he has a deal worked out with Martin. When a girl is on the outs with Martin, Belfiore comes and takes care of it. We all know someone's dead when he comes knocking," Jenna shivered. "Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Martin will go ape shit if he finds out I said anything."

I nodded. When I got up to leave, she said, "Just be careful. I hear Martin has a thing for you. That can either be really good or really bad. If it's good, you're safe. If it's bad, you'll be the next one Belfiore comes to see." She sliced her finger across her throat in a cutting motion and I nodded my understanding to her. I think I may have peed my pants a little at the thought, but I didn't want her to know I was scared.

"You be careful, too. Don't tell anyone that we talked." I left the room and shut the door. I was just about to the stairs when Ranger stepped into the hallway from the room next door. He stared at me for a beat. His eyes were angry. No, anger didn't cover it; he was livid.

"Babe," he said with a harsh tone. A "babe" from Ranger could be many things. It could mean I love you, you're funny, hey, I missed you ... many things. This babe was different. It sounded more like "I'm going to kill you" than any of the other possibilities.

I gave him a frightened look and licked my lips. "What?"

"I thought I told you this was over." His eyes had darkened to pure rage.

"I had to come back." I looked around. "I had to talk to her."

He stood silently, arms crossed. He was staring at me, unmoving.

"Look, I just didn't want you and Morelli to worry." I started to nibble my lower lip with my teeth. He was angry, not that I'd left, but because I had lied to him. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to get this over with."

"That may be, but _I_ said it was over and you agreed," he said, his voice deadly. "I feel like you didn't trust me to find him and maybe a little like I can't trust you."

He stepped closer to me and I saw the corners of his mouth tighten. I'd never seen him this upset with me and I was a little worried about what it could mean. I opened my mouth to speak when I heard a _thwump, thwump_behind me and felt a sharp pain in my chest.

I lost all feeling in my body and began to fall to the floor. I saw Ranger's mouth open in a yell, but I couldn't hear him. My pulse was pounding in my ears. He had his gun out, took some shots and came over to me to scoop me up into his arms.

He was hugging me to him, but I couldn't smell his shower gel, I couldn't feel his warmth, and I couldn't hug him back. I stared at him, my mouth open trying to speak. _What is wrong with me?_I looked down and saw my red shirt. Had I been wearing red? I thought it was white. _Blood._

I focused my eyes on Ranger. He was talking to me, he was worried, and I thought I saw a tear at the corner of his eye before my eyes closed. _I love you_. I thought in my head to him. I wanted to tell him, but I couldn't.

It's funny what you remember when you're dying. I remembered my first day of school, the first funeral I attended. It was my great-aunt Marge. She'd keeled over at the dinner table choking on pot roast. I'd seen it happen, though I'd been too little at the time to understand.

I remembered my first sexual experience with Morelli when he'd sweet talked me out of my virginity. I clearly remembered the first time I got shot. Right in the ass, and it hurt. A lot. I also remembered the stupid rubber donut I had to sit on. It wasn't necessarily tragic; it was more of an annoyance once the situation was resolved. _This_ was tragic. I'd seen a tear in Ranger's eye, you couldn't get any more tragic than that.

I was terrified. I couldn't see anything, couldn't open my eyes, and I couldn't hear. I don't know what bothered me more, the fact that I couldn't look around to see what was happening or the fact that I couldn't hear what was going on. Mostly, I was scared because I couldn't feel anything and I didn't know anything. Was I dead, asleep, or just in shock?

I was also bothered because I knew that Ranger was there and he was worried and I couldn't do anything to make him feel better. I couldn't tell him I was sorry for messing it up. I couldn't tell him that I loved him, that he was right and I did have motherly instincts. I wanted to punch holes in condoms. His. To feel a baby inside me, to be a mother. I wanted it all and now my chance was gone.

Suddenly, I could feel my mind fading and just before I went out completely, I realized that all I wanted was to see his face again, to have him hold me. _Oh my God!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Note: Janet Evanovich's characters and descriptions do not belong to me. I am using them only for entertainment purposes._

_Disclaimer: Please excuse any medical things that sound off. I'm going with my imagination here, but am not a medical professional. :)_

* * *

Voices floated in and out through the fog in my brain, luring me into the present. I wasn't awake and I wasn't sleeping. I was just there and, yet, I wasn't there. When I heard the voices, I remembered being glad to hear something, but then they floated away. I'd be in a panic over it, and then I would be gone again.

I don't know when I actually "woke up" to life around me, but I remembered being suddenly aware of everything. I still couldn't open my eyes, but I could hear and I had a pretty good idea of what was going on. What I heard did nothing to set my fears aside.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Plum. There's nothing more we can do right now. We just need to wait. Stephanie was under for a long time. By the time the emergency crew arrived, she had been without oxygen for over four minutes and her heart had stopped." Cue my mother losing complete control and dissolving into a sobbing wreck.

I heard my father comfort her and speak grimly to the doctor to ask what it all meant. "Well, the surgery was successful. We got the tissue repaired and we're giving her medicine that will help her heal through her IV. We just need to watch and see what happens. We're hoping to see some improvement, but when a patient is down as long as she was it's hard to say what will happen. She could wake up soon or it in a few days." Another muffled sob tore from my mother. _I'm awake, I just can't look around or move!_

"She's as good as we can expect for now. She's young, she's healthy, and Mr. Manoso knew just what to do until the EMTs arrived." I heard shuffling papers. "I'm here if you need me, just call the nurse's station and they'll page me."

I heard footsteps moving away and then a door opened and closed so I figured the doctor had left. "She'll be fine." I heard my father say. His voice was quiet.

This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen! We always stopped the bad guys before they could do anything _really_ dangerous. I was always fine; I had to be fine this time.

I heard a small gasp from my mother and her feet shuffled quickly across the floor. "Ranger!" I heard her muffled crying and realized he was comforting her. I heard his voice shushing her gently. _Ranger!_

She cried for a few moments. "Thank you for helping, Stephanie. The doctor said that if you hadn't helped her..."

"Hey," he said. "She's tough. It will take more than this to take her down." He sounded tough at the surface, but I knew this man and I could hear the slight edginess to his voice. _Am I really that bad? I can hear everything!_ "It's really late. I'll stand watch and sit with her. You go get some rest and you can relieve me in the morning."

"Joe!" my mother said suddenly.

"I'll stay with her if you have some place you need to be." The meaning in his voice was clear. I knew they'd talked, strategized. His voice sounded grave. I knew that this was killing him. I had no idea how long ago I had been shot, but I suspected he was on his Maalox diet.

I could almost feel the tension in the room. "I do. Thanks," Ranger said. I heard a light kiss and realized he must have kissed my mother's cheek. "There will be a couple of security guards posted outside her door round the clock courtesy of Rangeman Security."

I could imagine Joe's temper flaring at that statement. "Thank you!" my mother said. "I don't want that man to get anywhere near her."

"He won't," Morelli and Ranger said in unison.

"I'll be back in the morning to relieve you," Ranger said, I assumed to Morelli. There was no response, so I could only guess that Joe had given his usual curt nod.

Footsteps approached my bed and I felt fingertips stroke my face. I felt them! I was overjoyed that I could feel again. I could hear and feel. Two down, two to go. I needed to wake up and move. Ranger's voice was close to my ear when he spoke, "I'm not going to let that bastard Belfiore get away with it, Babe. Just work on getting better." He kissed my cheek and left the room.

Belfiore? It made sense, but I hadn't realized he was in the building when I went there. Had he followed me?

The room cleared out a little while later and I could hear Joe pacing for a few moments, then he sat down next to my bedside and took my hand. His grip hardened and his heat flowed from my hand up through my arm.

"My God, Cupcake. What are you doing to me?" I felt his lips brush my hand. When he spoke again, his voice cracked, "You _are_ going to make it through this because you're the luckiest person I know." He pressed my hand to his mouth and I felt his body shaking. I felt there was no way a Morelli would cry, but it was the only explanation that made sense. My heart broke at the pain he was in.

It was too much. My chest started hurting and I just wanted to run away. _I can't do this right now! I just need rest._ I concentrated on falling asleep and felt myself slipping away out of consciousness, but I thought I heard an alarm sound just before I went out.

I awoke to voices speaking frantically. "Push one more epi." I heard the doctor from earlier say, a serious tone in his voice. After a few seconds he said, "Okay, she's stable enough for now. Call the OR, we're on our way up."

"Hang on, Cupcake. Just hang on." I heard Joe calling to me. I've never in my life heard him sound that way before. He sounded like he was losing his best friend. Was he? What was going on?

They wheeled me out of the room. Monitors were blipping and men's and women's voices were shouting out various medical terms that made no sense to me. I could only think that this didn't sound like good news for me and how strange it was that I could understand what was happening.

"There has to be internal bleeding," the doctor said. "We looked earlier, but didn't see anything so it's probably a rupture. I need a cardio surgeon in there with me, just in case." We had stopped, but we were moving again. This new information started the panic rising up in me. I heard a little alarm start pinging and a woman's voice yell, "V-tach!"

"Paddles!" The doctor yelled. I felt something cold press against my chest. "Clear!" _Holy mother of God!_The shock that went through me would have knocked me out if I wasn't already semi-unconscious. As it was, I was glad I was only minutely aware of my situation. If I'd been fully awake, I would have been screaming. "Okay, we're good. Get her prepped while I scrub. Is cardio here?"

"Yes, Dr. Slater just arrived."

"Okay, get anesthesiology started."

A few moments later, I drifted out into the unknown.

***

When I came to again, I felt a strong masculine hand holding mine. I knew it was Ranger, it was his touch. His breathing was even and I would have thought he was asleep, but he was the only person I knew who could go into a completely dormant state and still be wide awake. I thought about the turmoil my condition caused everyone I loved, my parents, my grandmother, Morelli, and Ranger. All of these people who loved me and wanted me safe were now worried about me through this time, wishing me better, and wondering why I put myself into harm's way so constantly.

I didn't know and I couldn't explain to anyone why I like bond enforcement, why I liked working on these mysteries. On the surface, I hate the job. It's messy, unreliable, and dangerous. I've been shot at, had bombs go off around me, had buildings I was in set on fire, my cars blown up, and many other attempts on my life, but I usually came out virtually unscathed. The last few days were no exception. Joe was right, I _was_ lucky. And my family? They were always relieved whenever I came out of a situation unharmed, but how much could they take? Will they lose me? I couldn't answer that question.

Ranger squeezed my hand. "Babe." He was quiet, his voice a pained whisper. I knew I could handle his pain the least of anyone else's. He had been there, watched it happen, felt the helplessness. I knew he was blaming himself for not protecting me, but maybe he was blaming me for lying to him and going off on my own, too.

I felt his lips on my knuckles. He pressed my palm to his cheek and nuzzled it, then kissed it gently. He sighed deeply and continued to kiss my hand and caress it. "I'm not the best at telling how I feel, but I want you to know that you mean everything to me. If you die, my life is over. I was angry with you for going there and let myself get distracted; I didn't see him, Babe. I broke my own rules." He paused. "My world stopped when you got hit. When I saw the blood ... there was so much. I tried to tell myself it wasn't happening."

He stroked my hair. "I wouldn't let myself admit it, but when the woman you love is lying there in front of you bleeding like that... I just wanted to tell you what you mean to me. How I dream about you, how I watch you sleep when you don't know. I love the way you curl into me when I put my arms around you. I like knowing you feel safe with me." He was silent for a while, his hand caressing my cheek. "I would give anything to trade places with you, to know that you're going to make it."

He sighed and took a few slow, deep breaths. "I'm going to find him, he won't bother you again." He kissed my forehead and stood with his fingertips gently rubbing over my knuckles. "I love you, always," he whispered to me.

My first thought was that I wanted him to repeat it. My second was I wanted to stop him from doing something crazy. I was utterly confused. He'd told me so many times that his lifestyle didn't lend itself to relationships and that he wouldn't offer me a ring. He wouldn't just come out and say he loved me before, but he was saying it now. Part of me worried that he was only saying it to me now because he had nothing left to lose. I hoped not.

I heard the door open and two footsteps, then silence. I knew then that Morelli had entered the room. I could feel the air thicken and Ranger tensed up, holding tighter to my hand.

I guessed Morelli was weighing his words by the length of time he didn't speak. "How did last night go?"

"We got a few leads. I'm tracking a good one this morning." Ranger laid my hand down at my side and I heard him sliding into his jacket. "I just stopped in to see if there were any changes."

Silence.

I heard Ranger sigh. "I'm not in the mood to argue. You're not going to make me feel any worse about this than I do."

"I don't blame you," Morelli said simply and I believed him.

"Well, I do."

"She is constantly putting herself in danger. Hell, I'm thankful you were there because she would have been dead if you hadn't been." Morelli paced. "It's just that…" He broke off, collecting himself. He stopped pacing. "When we were together, she always seemed to be with you. I knew that she loved you."

Ranger didn't speak for a moment, then he said quietly, "I don't know why you think she loves me, you're the one she always chose."

What was I supposed to think about_ that_? He'd continually pushed me back to Morelli.

"She chose me, but she was always thinking of you." Morelli sat down in the chair at my bedside with a deep sigh. "She said your name in her sleep. She told you that she loved you one night."

Ranger said nothing and I suspected he was just staring at Morelli with his usual blank face.

"If I gave you my blessing to be with her, would you give her the kind of home she deserves?" Morelli asked.

"What?"

"If I, you know, told her that I wanted her to be with you and be happy, would you give her what she needs, what she wants?" He stood. "You know, take care of her, let her be a free spirit. She doesn't want to be a housewife."

"I don't know if I could just let her run around and do whatever she wanted and get herself killed, but I also don't think that anyone has the power to stop her when she has her mind made up." This made Morelli chuckle sadly. I heard Ranger walk over to stand by where Morelli's was. "In answer to your question, yes, I'd marry her. I'd let her be whatever she wanted and I'd worry. Maybe I love her too much to tell her not to follow her heart. I don't know."

"I loved her too much to let her be so stupid," Morelli said, anger in his voice.

"There are all kinds of love," Ranger said.

"Apparently your kind is better suited to her." Morelli blew out a breath. "Mine couldn't be that; I couldn't take it. I'm getting too old. I love her. I wanted a family with her, but I wanted her to stay home with the kids, be a mom and cook, clean, read bedtime stories … she doesn't want those things. It's the reason I scared her." I could hear the frustration in his voice. "She probably would have married me a long time ago if I could have just accepted her choices at face value, but I couldn't do it. I want her safe, I want her happy, and I just ... I realized that it was never going to be with me."

"I kept telling her to marry you," Ranger said. Now Morelli was silent. "That you were the better choice, the _safer _choice. Think about what you're saying to me, because if I get your blessing, I'm moving in. I love her." His words were met with silence and I knew they were done talking as if they each had too much to on their minds to continue.

"Are you staying here?" Ranger asked, zipping his jacket.

"Yeah, I have the morning off. I'll stay here until Mrs. Plum can get here." I heard his hair rustle as he ran a hand through it and took the seat Ranger had vacated. Ranger kissed my forehead. "Be strong, Babe." Then he left.

Joe picked up my hand and caressed it, kissing it periodically, and sighing a lot. He kissed my hair. He talked to me about the case he was working, keeping his mind preoccupied with anything other than the fact that he was giving up his dream so I could have mine. I knew, also, that we'd be friends forever, maybe not best friends, but friends. That knowledge set me at ease.

I was completely stunned. Ranger said he was going to marry me. How long had he thought about it? Why couldn't he have ever said so before? Was he ready to get married right away or was it a "someday" thing to him? Too many questions needed answers and it was tiring. I willed myself to sleep again.


	11. Chapter 11

_Note: Janet Evanovich's characters and descriptions do not belong to me. I am using them only for entertainment purposes._

_Disclaimer: Same thing about the medical stuff. I'm no doctor. :)_

* * *

I had no idea how long I was in the hospital. I was in and out of awareness periodically. I knew that I was healing, or at least getting better because, as time passed, I felt the need to get up and move. I couldn't understand why I couldn't wake up, but I was getting concerned that something was terribly wrong with me.

I knew the minute that Lula entered my hospital room. She hitched up her voice a few octaves and bellowed out, "Oooooohhhh my God! Look what he did to Stephanie. Look at her. I've never seen that girl look like this." She blew her nose loudly and sniffled a bit. "I told her. I told her Ranger was a smart man. I shoulda never gone against him. You don't go against Batman! That Stephanie got a fast talking mouth on her. I need some chicken and a shake, and maybe a donut or two. I need to go get my hair done and go find a happy place. Just look at her lying there. When's she gonna wake up?"

My mother and grandmother had remained silent during her rant. She stood next to my bed and sniffled a bit. "All those times that girl had to go out and have her own way, she picked this one to get shot, when I decide to help her go against that fine man." She blew her nose again. "Look at that tube in her mouth. How's she gonna talk? She's gonna be mad when she wakes up and she can't talk on account of that tube sticking down her throat."

I pondered that idea for a minute and decided that if I woke up, I'd be too happy to be awake to be mad about anything. I wanted to see one thing when my eyes opened: a pair of dark chocolate brown eyes staring into mine.

"She'll be fine." I heard my grandmother say. She wasn't nearly as animated as normal, but at least she was a little upbeat. "I keep watching her eyes. They flicker a lot. I'm waiting for them to just pop open at any minute."

"Yeah, that'd be something she'd do," Lula said, finally calming down. "Just pop her eyes open and scare the living daylights outta me." She leaned close. "Yessir, just pop her eyes right open." If I could have laughed right then, I would.

"Um," my mother started. "They're not really sure when she's going to wake. She was deprived of oxygen." Her voice trembled a little. "They aren't even sure if she'll be her normal self. She was without oxygen for over four minutes, maybe longer. The doctor says that only time will tell. The gunshot wounds to her lungs did a lot of damage." My mother took a minute to compose herself, I could hear her 'cleansing' breaths, as she called them.

"They're not sure if they were able to get the circulation restored to her brain timely enough. That man put a hole in each of her lungs. Ranger was quick-thinking though. He stripped off her shirt and covered the holes with a plastic bag he said he pulled from your duffel. He held his hands over them until the paramedics arrived." Grandma Mazur explained. "If I didn't already think he was the shit, I would now. What he did saved my granddaughter's life." Her voice broke then and I hated to hear her so sad.

"I heard she had to have surgery?"

"Yes," my mother said, her voice as soft and breathy as a mouse's. "They had to repair her lungs. Several hours later she had some cardiac stress and they took her in for an emergency surgery. One of the bullets had nicked her heart. There was so much blood that they didn't catch it in the first surgery..."

"I get it," Lula said quietly. "So, they don't know when she'll wake up. Huhn." She started clip-clopping her way toward the door. "Just goes to show how much those smartass doctors know. That girl is going to wake up just fine. You want to go get something to eat, Granny?" Lula asked. My grandma said yes and shuffled over to the door by Lula and my mother decided to join them.

So, I was in a coma of some sort, though it didn't make sense to me. I thought my mind was functioning perfectly. I didn't think I would be able think all of my thoughts and listen to conversations if my mind was gone. _I_ thought I was normal.

In fact, what I _was_ was annoyed. People were talking about me like I wasn't here. Morelli and Ranger didn't talk out their feelings again, to me or to each other, and I wished they would. When they were here, they just held my hand, kissed my hair and told me they loved me and to keep fighting.

I was getting sick of it all. I just wanted everyone to leave me alone because they were up and around living their lives and I wasn't. I knew they were hurting, but I was fine. I just couldn't wake myself up. I missed Rex and wondered if someone was taking care of him. Then I decided it was probably Ranger since I'd left him at his apartment. Still, he was my responsibility. I missed my job, crazy as it was, and I missed my independence. I missed Lula and her craziness. I missed Ranger and his passion and Morelli and the hockey games.

I just wanted my life back.

The door to my room opened and closed. Soft footsteps approached and someone took my hand. Joe. "Hey, Cupcake, it's me."

I concentrated on twitching my fingers, but they wouldn't cooperate. "Your color is better today." He kissed my forehead and took the chair next to my bed. "I think you're looking much stronger." He was stroking my hand and staring at me, I could feel his eyes.

The door opened and closed again and a heavier presence approached. Ranger. Well, the upside to this situation was that I was getting better at being aware of my surroundings.

Joe released my hand and stood up, then remained silent for a few beats. "Well?"

"Belfiore had a terrible accident," Ranger said.

"Did he?" Morelli asked, his voice grave.

"He was driving all crazy trying to get away from us and drove off a bridge into the Delaware," Ranger said.

Joe was silent for a while. "He drove off a bridge?"

"Yes." Ranger's voice was laced with annoyance. "That was one crazy mother."

"Okay, then," Joe said. "Do we have a body?"

Ranger nodded. "They fished him out about forty-five minutes ago. The only place left for him to terrorize is the ME's office."

They were silent. Joe was the first to speak. "Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"He was just insane, man. Hated women. He chased Stephanie down because she caught him and took him in. He was enraged that a woman would disrespect a man, clearly above her, the way she did." I could imagine that he gave a tiny shake of his head. "He was in a disguise, I didn't catch it. I was so angry with her for going over there, for lying to me, that I couldn't even see straight."

"I've been there," Joe said. I thought I detected amusement in his voice.

"The worst part is, I scared her, you know? I worried her about how angry I was." He broke off for a few seconds. "Then he shot her. I tried to tell her that it was okay and I wasn't mad at her anymore, but she didn't hear me. She just looked at me. She had that look I've seen soldiers get when something goes terribly wrong and the life just goes out of them."

"Shit," Joe said and I heard rubbing, most likely his hand moving over his heart. "I don't know what I would have done."

"I work out. I want to have strength to do what I need to do to get my job done, to keep people safe ... to protect her." He came over and stroked the back of my hand with his fingertips. "And there was nothing I could do once those bullets hit her. Strength is useless against a bullet."

"Yeah," Joe said. "You really love her." It was a statement, not a question.

"I don't know why. I tried not to, but yeah." His fingers travelled up to stroke my wrist. "I hung up on her when she called me to come bail her out after you handcuffed her to her shower."

I heard Joe chuckle. "She was so pissed about that. I thought for sure the next time I saw her she would castrate me."

"Yeah. I remember deciding then that maybe she was worth a second look. I could tell the kind of mental strength she had. And I couldn't believe how she kept finding you … or how she continues to be able to find her skips." _Hey._ I wondered if he was looking at me with amusement in his eyes the way he did when he was proud of me. "She's a terrible with captures, but she's got the best instincts."

"She does." I could hear the smile in Joe's voice. "I'm going to head out and get filled in on the case back at the station."

What kind of a crazy fucked up world was I in? Were Morelli and Ranger now _friends_? Not that it would bother me, but I was starting to feel like maybe I should have gotten shot months ago.

"See you later," Ranger said, unzipping his jacket.

"Yeah, see ya." Joe was quiet. I heard him walk out of the room and click the door shut.

What. The. Hell. They just said good-bye to each other.

I felt Ranger take my hand and lay it against his cheek. "Babe, I need you to wake up." He sounded tired, maybe a little desperate.

I wanted to wake up, to just open my eyes. My knee was hurting, my chest was hurting, and I had a feeling I needed a shower. I finally just got so frustrated that I popped my eyes open.

Brightness flooded into my vision and I squinted my eyes shut again. _Ugh!_ That was horrible.

Ranger hadn't moved, so I assumed he hadn't seen me. I decided to try a second time and peeked them open a little. My eyes were slits and I could see the shadow of Ranger sitting to my right, his elbow propped on the armrest of the chair, his face in his hand, and his other hand holding tightly to mine.

I opened them more fully now and stared at him, letting my eyes adjust to the light. He hadn't shaved in at least a couple of days. He looked wonderful. His shoulders were hunched and he was rubbing his eyes with one hand and my knuckles with the other. Now that my eyes were open, I felt like everything else was working as well. I tested my theory by wiggling my toes. I saw them move and felt excitement course through my veins. I decided to give Ranger a surprise. I squeezed his hand.

He shot to his feet instantly and stared at me. I stared back. There they were, my dark chocolate brown eyes.

He squeezed my hand again. I squeezed his back. He followed with two squeezes and I matched them. "Babe?"

I had a tube down my throat, so I couldn't smile or speak, but I did my best to smile with my eyes and tried to nod. He took a deep breath and gathered me close to him in a gentle hug. He was kissing my hair and caressing my face. When he pulled back, I was shocked to see such depth of emotion in his eyes. "Oh my God, Babe, I thought I lost you."

He kissed my head and tried to pull away, but I held fast and gave him a questioning look.

"I'm going to page the nurse. I want the doctor in here right away," he said, crossing to the other side of the bed and hitting the red button.

A few seconds later, a plump middle-aged nurse entered my room and left again the second she saw that my eyes were open.

The doctor came in a few moments later. He looked me over, checked my reflexes and tested my eyes. He said, "Well, let's get rid of this tube."

A few horrible moments later, the tube was out and I was coughing, dragging air into my lungs on my own, and trying to catch my breath, but it hurt my lungs every time I breathed in. The nurse brought me a cup of water and I sipped. "That was good," I squeaked.

I looked up at Ranger and his eyes were shining at me. I could tell he was proud. "Babe."

I smiled at him and he crossed to me and hugged me gently. I reached my lips up to his ear and whispered, "I love you."

He froze momentarily, staring into my eyes. Then he tucked a stray curl behind my ear and whispered back, "I love you, too."

"In your own way," I whispered.

"No, in every way," he said. "Forever."


	12. Epilogue

_Note: Janet Evanovich's characters and descriptions do not belong to me. I am using them only for entertainment purposes._

_This is the final chapter in this story and I hope that it ties up any loose ends. I just love how much encouragement I've received from everyone. I'm going to start formulating ideas for another one soon. :) Thanks for the reviews!_

* * *

My hospital room was bright and cheery from the sun shining outside. I was so happy to be leaving the hospital today. It'd been a rough few days, but I was healing well and the doctor said I could go home as long as I took it easy.

I sat perched on the edge of my bed and looked around at the various bouquets, cards, and treats my well-wishers had sent to me. It was so touching to see the outpouring of love. I couldn't wait to see everyone and to be free from hospital confinement.

The door opened and Carlos stepped into the room. "I was wondering where you went," I said. The sight of him took my breath away. He was wearing distressed dark blue jeans with a black leather belt, a red long-sleeved Henley tucked in with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, his diamond studs, and white and red cross trainers. I admired the way the jeans molded to his muscular thighs and butt. If he'd been close enough, I would have been tempted to make sure it was still as firm as I remembered. I found out that black was just a work preference and he actually did have a normal wardrobe that he wore. I also found out that red is his favorite color.

He caught me looking and smiled, coming over to sit on the edge of my bed with a Pino's box in his hands. "I thought maybe you'd want some lunch."

"Am I allowed to have Pino's?"

"They said that you could eat whatever you wanted and to enjoy it." He leaned forward and kissed me. "You are amazing, Babe. I'm never surprised at the courage you show."

I smiled and leaned forward to nibble on his ear, something I'd found he really loved.

He gave a low growl against my neck sending shivers down my arms. "If you weren't under strict orders to take it easy, I'd prove how much I love that."

"How about a rain check instead?"

"You can have anything you want." He held me close and I rested my head on his shoulder.

Soon the smell of the pizza overrode his Bulgari shower gel. I pulled back and opened the box. He'd gotten pepperoni and green pepper, my favorite. I took a slice and bit into it, then moaned appreciatively. "Oh, I'm so happy to have some real food. I didn't think I could survive another day on hospital fare."

He grinned. We each polished off three slices and then he sat the box aside and we washed our hands. "So, where are they?" I asked.

He opened his mouth to answer me, but was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Two nurses came in wheeling two carts. The look of love on Carlos' face was enough to make my heart burst. He walked over to the first cart and lifted up a tiny blue bundle. "Have you come to see your _mamá_ and _papá_, little Cesar?" He turned to me and beamed a bright smile at me that practically stopped my heart.

He brought the baby over to me and gently laid him in my arms. I looked at my son. He had dark curly lashes like his father, my blue eyes, and Carlos' full lips, which were currently pursed. His little tongue was working in and out of his mouth and I suspected he was looking for his lunch, as well.

Carlos walked over to the second cart. "And, let's not forget about you, little Carlos." He lifted out Cesar's identical twin brother and tucked him into the crook of his arm. My heart swelled at the sight of Ranger, the big, bad bounty hunter, holding and cooing at a tiny little baby.

Our sons were born on June 18th, just two days ago. Carlos was older by ten minutes, hence the reason he was named after his father. It seemed impossible to me that when I had gone undercover at Martin's place, I was already pregnant. My little guys held on through the shooting and recovery process. I was terrified when I discovered the pregnancy, but was quickly assured by my OB that if they'd survived all of that trauma, they were probably fine. They were born at thirty seven weeks, healthy and strong at six and a half pounds each. I was glad they were so big because I'd looked like a tank when I was carrying them. In fact, Tank and I joked that I was almost as big as him ... though, I'm not sure if I ever really found it _that_ funny. When I worried about my weight to Carlos, he just showed me how much he appreciated my increased bust size and assured me he could whip me into shape in no time after they were born. The thought terrified me.

Joe had started dating a woman named Melanie Romano. She'd graduated from high school with him, but they hadn't really known each other back then. I knew her well enough. She was Italian and feisty, petite with black hair and brown eyes that could match the fury in Joe's when needed. He was no match for her. Her family was from the Burg and she made the meanest pan of lasagna I'd ever tasted. I should know. It sent me into labor just hours after indulging. It seemed that Joe was getting his Burg wife after all and we frequently had meals with the two of them, now that the rivalry between Joe and Carlos was over.

Lula and Connie still worked for Vinnie. Lula was now chasing down FTAs and I have been vindicated of my bombshell title by her crazy antics. The last article about her referred to her as the _Crackpot Whackshot_. I felt bad for Lula, but I couldn't help feeling that it was true.

Carlos and I found a home in the countryside outside Trenton. It was a large white Victorian style enclosed by wrought iron gates and a huge wraparound porch. I'd fallen in love with it the minute I saw it and knew that it would be perfect for raising our children. We'd spent months decorating the house, concentrating on the nursery first. I could live with a sparsely furnished bedroom and kitchen for a while, but I couldn't handle the thought of not having everything ready for my babies. We brought Ella and Louis to live in the guest house in back of the main house. The guys at the office were a bit miffed that they had to get used to a new housekeeper, but they got over it.

I was done with my BEA work for good. What can I say? Having babies can change a woman. I told Carlos not to expect me to stay out of the action, though. I fully intended to be involved with Rangeman as soon as I'd found someone who could nanny the children who passed my maternal scrutiny and Carlos' background checks. Of course, my involvement at Rangeman probably wouldn't involve those boring late night stakeouts … _darn_. I wanted to have an active role in the boys' lives. And who knows, there may be even more little Manosos running around before too long.

I also found out that there was no Batcave. Well, at least not in the top secret hideout sort of way. What a let down! Carlos had a condo in Trenton that he'd called home, but we didn't want to raise the boys in Trenton, so he sold it. It's as simple as that. My man of mystery wasn't as mysterious in some ways and turned out to be even more mysterious in others. There were no secrets anymore, but I still had a lot to learn about what made him tick. I enjoyed the journey of breaking the hard shell he'd built around himself. He was an amazing man and I was happy to be discovering more and more about him day by day.

Carlos walked over to me and nuzzled behind my ear. "What are you thinking about, Babe?"

"I'm thinking about how glad I am that I married you." He smiled and kissed me deeply.

"Me too, Babe." Carlos, as I call him now when we're alone, and I got married on December 31st. We wanted to end the year on a good note and start the new year on a promise. I think it's turned out pretty well so far. My mother was so happy that I'd recovered that I didn't hear much fuss about the pregnancy. Of course, it helped that Carlos and I didn't bat an eye at the idea of getting married. When you've been through what we went through, marriage doesn't seem so difficult.

As far as his life not lending itself to relationships goes, we found that it lent itself very well to one. Maybe the problem before was the 's' he had tacked onto the end. He handed a lot of the private investigating piece of Rangeman over to Tank to run. He and I concentrated on building the security business. In fact, I joked with him that he was becoming more of a white collar executive these days than a bug and bark eating soldier. That comment had earned me a couple hours of _punishment_ in bed, which I hadn't minded in the least.

"I'm also thinking that I really am the luckiest woman in the universe." I smiled.

He leaned down to kiss my neck. "Don't ever doubt it, Babe."

"And I'm wondering how long it will take me to talk you out of making me run every day after I've completely healed from the births." I grinned.

"Not a chance, Babe."

I rolled my eyes. He felt the best way to strengthen my body and help recover from the shooting and the pregnancy was to get me out and get running. Because I had a long recovery and I was pregnant with twins, he'd had me go walking with the promise of making me run as soon as I recovered from giving birth. I still had a few tricks up my sleeve to convince him otherwise, but at least I didn't have to worry about it right _now_.

Carlos went over to sit on the couch by the window with little Carlos. "You know, I'm going to just have to call you Ranger."

"Why is that?" He grinned.

"Because, now there are two of you," I said with a laugh.

He thought about it as he snagged a little baby fist in his lips so he could kiss it. "I don't mind Batman." He winked.

_Oh boy_.

I got off the bed so Cesar and I could join them and winced a little. He rose from the couch and came over to wrap an arm around my waist. "You in pain, Babe?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm living on the other side of pain now."

"What's that?"

"Forever," I said and kissed him.


End file.
